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LETTERS 



SCENERY OF WALES. 



Ah ! that such beauty, varying in the light 
Of living nature, cannot be pourtrayed 
By words, nor by the pencil's silent bkill ; 
But is the property of him alone 
Who hath beheld it, noted it with care, 
And in his mind recorded it with love. 

Wordsworth, Excursion, p. 410. 



LETTERS 

ON THE 

SCENERY OF WALES; 

INCLUDING A 

SERIES OF SUBJECTS FOR THE PENCIL, 

WITH THEIR STATIONS 

DETERMINED ON A GENERAL PRINCIPLE : 

AND 

INSTRUCTIONS TO PEDESTRIAN TOURISTS. 



By the Rev. R. H. NEWELL, B. D. 

AUTHOR OF " REMARKS ON GODDSMfTH." 




LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY. 

1821. 



s> 



fc 



; 



l ov 



O. Baldwin, Printer, 

Npw Bridge-street, London. 



TO 



PAUL PANTON, ESQ. 



THIS VOLUME 



IS INSCRIBED 



IN GRATEFUL RECOLLECTION OF 
HIS HOSPITALITY. 



PREFACE. 



JirfVERY one now, who travels with the least 
skill in drawing, is desirous to carry back some 
sketches of the scenery ; hut he is often at a loss 
to discover the beauties of a country, and proper 
subjects for the pencil, and more so, perhaps, to 
fix on proper stations. To give some information 
on these points, in a tour through Wales, by mark- 
ing out a series of picturesque views, with stations 
for taking them, is the chief object of this work. 
And it may be hoped, that, while we are daily 
invited to admire descriptions and pictures of 
foreign countries, the attempt is commendable to 
introduce more generally to public taste and 
admiration, the natural beauties of our own island. 
The materials were collected in two pedestrian 
rambles. My route through North Wales was 
neither unusual nor extensive, but may be strongly 



Vlll PREFACE. 

recommended, abounding with noble scenery, in 
almost infinite variety. The beauties of South 
Wales are more widely scattered, and much un- 
interesting ground must be trodden to find them. 
It cannot be expected that I have mentioned 
every view which might be delineated, or perhaps 
the best, or the best stations ; taste and experience 
will, after all, direct the choice : ten artists would 
probably select ten different subjects, and each a 
different view of the same. 

The principle upon which I have endeavoured 
to point out the stations is that used at sea (and 
why not on land?) for steering a ship into har- 
bour — t/ie bearings of txvo fired objects in the 
view ; and it is this principle, therefore, which I 
would hope to illustrate, rather than to tell much 
which is not already known, and better described, 
A number of subjects, from the works of different 
artists, has been added, without stations, as an 
exercise for the Tourist's skill. 

I have also attempted a few remarks on the 
picturesque beauty of the country; a subject, with 
regard to Wales, still open, and much is it to be 



PREFACE. IX 

regretted that Mr. Gilpin left it so.* Picturesque 
is, indeed, a word which now almost palls upon the 
ear, nor is it always very accurately applied : but 
I mean to express by it, " that peculiar kind of 
beauty which is agreeable in a picture ;" f and as 
such, my frequent use of the term seemed almost 
unavoidable. 

The smaller landscapes are etched nearly as I 
drew them, but on a reduced scale, and may be 
useful as subjects, or if referred to on the spot. 
Drawings, with the breadth and effect of the 
aquatinta engravings, may be easily and expe- 
ditiously made, and will give, what is most essen- 
tial, the general character of the scene. They 
have all been executed by a pupil to the late 
Mr. Aiken, and not unworthy of such a master. 

The hints to assist the pedestrian, are the result 

* Remarking to one of the first landscape painters in this 
kingdom, that, of the numerous Welch Tours, none had been 
written on the plan of Gilpin's Wye, he replied— few could 
write with his knowledge of the subject. 

f Gilpin's Essay on Prints, p. 12. 



X PREFACE. 

of long experience, and are therefore given with 
some confidence. 

The whole has been thrown into the form of 
letters, with a wish of making the directions more 
plain and easy ; it also breaks the uniformity of 
continued description. 

When I acknowledge the friendly assistance 
which this little work has received, I cannot refuse 
myself the gratification of adding, how much I 
owe to one person in particular, whose genius and 
talents can be surpassed but by his liberality in 
exerting them.* 

My attempt, if new, is of course defective ; but 
if the principle be correct, it is improvable by 
others, and may not be altogether useless to those 
for whom it is intended — those who have " an eye 
that can see nature, a heart that can feel nature, 
and a boldness that dares follow nature."f 

* Mr. William Payne. 

f Welch Triads. See Jones's Relicks of the Welch 
Bards, p. 81. 



CONTENTS, 



LETTER I. 

PAGE 

Introduction. — Advantages of a Pedestrian.— Object 
of these letters.— Books as guides. — General rule for 
taking a view. — Character of a country the artist's 
first aim. — Exhibition catalogues useful. — List of pub- 
lications on Wales 1 

LETTER II. 

Principle by which the Stations are determined — demon- 
stration — another method — illustrations — applied to 
find where any drawing is taken 9 

LETTER III. 

Chief aim of a pedestrian — dress — luggage — drawing- 
books and implements. — Best season for a tour. — 
Arrangement of the day. — Bathing recommended. — 
Tour begins from the New Passage. — Route and Inns 
through South Wales 14 

LETTER IV. 

Gilpin's View of Newport. — Character of Glamorgan- 
shire. — Caerphilly Castle. — New Bridge — remarkable 
echo there. — Scenery on the TafF. — Hanging Bridge 
and Waterfall, on the Rontha Vawr. — Malkin's route 
to Pontneath Vechan 20 



Xll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

LETTER V. 

Road to Pontneath Vechan by Aberdare. — View down 
the Vale of Neath. — Views near Pontneath Vechan. — 
Fall of the Hepsey. — Cavern Scenes picturesque — 
method of drawing them. — Upper Fall of the Purthin. 
— Anecdote of Sir Herbert Mackworth. — Lady's Cas- 
cade. — Stone of the Bow 30 

LETTER VI. 
Melin Court Cascade. — Neath Abbey. — Britton Ferry, 
and Churchyard. — Swansea : views near.— Arthur's 
Stone 42 

LETTER VII. 

Picturesque character of Caermarthenshire. — Vale of 
Tovy. — Dinevawr Castle. — Dyer the Poet. — Llaug- 
harne. — Views of the Castle. — Excursion to Llan 
Stephan recommended. — Green Bridge. — Tenby : 
views near. — Narbeth. — Road to Cardigan by Maen- 
cloghog. — Remarks on the person and dress of the 
Welch 50 

LETTER VIII. 

Picturesque character of Cardiganshire. — View of Car- 
digan.— Kilgerran Castle. — Coracles. — Nevern, and 
antiquities there. — Newcastle in Emlyn. — Tregaron. 
— Stone Pillar near Llanbeder. — Strata Flur Abbey. 
— View near Yspytty Ystwith. — Road to the DeviPs 
Bridge 63 

LETTER IX. 

Wilson the painter. — Devil's Bridge. — Falls of the 
Mynach.— Fall of the Rhydoll.— Robber's Cave.— 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

PAGE 



Second Fall of the Mynach — Parson's Foot Bridge- 
other objects. — Route and Inns through North Wales 7 



LETTER X. 

Route from the Devil's Bridge, east. — Cwm Ystwith 
lead mines. — Rhaiadr Gwy, — Bowles's Poem of Cwm 
Eland. — Remarks on English descriptive poets. — Curi- 
ous customs in Radnorshire. — Bualt. — Picturesque 
character of Radnorshire. — Aber Edwy.— Jones the 
painter.— Picturesque character of Brecknockshire. — 
Brecon : views there. — Road to the New Passage. 
— Views mentioned 89 

LETTER XL 

Roads to Aberystwith. — Towns seldom picturesque. — 

tit 
Road to Machynllaeth by Trevy Ddol. — Montgomery- 
shire, the least picturesque in North Wales.— Road to 
Dolgelle — sublime scenery on it. — Tal y llyn.— Craig 
y Deryn. Excursion over Cader Idris recommended. , 
— Distant view of Dolgelle 104 

LETTER XII. 
Remarks on the picturesque character of Merionethshire. 
— On Welch towns. — View of Dolgelle. — Gilpin's rule 
for sketching a crowd — applicable to a town. — Excur- 
sions from Dolgelle — Road to Barmouth. — Anecdote 
of Gray. — Llaneltyd Bridge. — Cemmer Abbey .... 119 

LETTER XIII. 
Remarks on falling water.— Fall of Dolmelynllyn.— 
Alpine Bridge near.— Fall of the Cain.— Fall of the 
Mawdach.— Vale of Festiniog.— Falls of the Cynfael. 
— Waterfall mentioned by Bingley. — Roads to Pont 
Aberglasllyn 128 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

LETTER XIV. 

Character of Caernarvonshire — Pont Aberglasllyn. — 
Beddgelert — why so named — views near. — Study of 
rock, and other objects, from models — Goats. — Ex- 
cursion along the Caernarvon road — along the Capel 
Curig road. — Nant Lie Pools — adjacent objects 140 

LETTER XV. 
Snowdon — facts relating to that mountain. — Tracks to 
the top — that from Beddgelert described — recesses of 
Snowdon remarkable — fanciful practice at the top — 
height compared with other mountains 155 

LETTER XVI. 

Mountain pass to Llanberis. — Village. — Lake — its cha- 
racter. — Dolbadarn Tower. — Best time for viewing lake 
scenery. — Caernarvon. — Views of the Castle. — Excur- 
sions from Caernarvon. — Bangor. — Nant Fangon. — 
Beaumaris.— View of the Castle. — Cromlech at Plas 
Newydd. — Picturesque points in Anglesey 162 

LETTER XVII. 

Method of shading and tinting. — List of views in dif- 
ferent parts of Wales — remarks on the whole collec- 
tion. — Homeward route. — Welch language and people 179 



DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER 



FOR PLACING 



THE PLATES. 



Plate I to face Page 27 

- II 39 

III 64 

-IV 35 

<- V 98 

View of Laughame Castle 56 

- Fall of the Rhyddoil 82 

Parson's Bridge 86 

i Rock of Birds Ill 

. Dolmelynllyn Fall 129 



SCENERY OF WALES. 



LETTER I. 



My dear young friend, 

You determine wisely, not to visit other coun- 
tries till you have become acquainted with the 
wonders and beauties of your own. Your inten- 
tion is equally judicious, to devote a part of the 
University long vacation to a Tour through 
Wales. Interesting and instructive it will cer- 
tainly be, and in after life an opportunity may 
not so readily occur again. Wales is indeed al- 
most a foreign country within our own ; its fea- 
tures, inhabitants, language, manners, and cus- 
toms, are so very different from those of Eng- 

B 



2 LETTERS ON THE 

land, that the Cambrian Traveller is abroad — a 
stranger, yet at home. 

Your plan is to walk and sketch the scenery, — 
this too is well. The best way undoubtedly of 
seeing a country is on foot. It is the safest, 
and most suited to every variety of road ; it will 
often enable you to take a shorter track, and visit 
scenes (the finest perhaps) not otherwise acces- 
sible; it is healthy, and, with a little practice, 
easy ; it is economical : a pedestrian is content 
with almost any accommodations ; he, of all travel- 
lers, wants but little, 

" Nor wants that little long." 

And last, though not least, it is perfectly indepen- 
dent. Expedition it cannot boast ; but this is to 
you rather an advantage : three miles an hour 
would be found fast enough for your pursuit ; and 
twelve or fourteen miles a day (more or less), for 
two months, would carry you through a consider- 
able tour, allowing for a halt on the march, some- 
times of two or three days, in order to explore. 



SCENEIiY OF WALES. 3 

Your principal object is to exercise your pencil. 
Perhaps every tourist would do well to have a 
principal object, adding as many secondary ones 
as he pleases. A journal too, or short notes re- 
gularly kept, may be recommended: it would 
save him many a languid hour, and make his 
tour more pleasant and profitable, both to himself 
and others. One object there is, which I need 
not remind you to keep in view — a constant re- 
ference of these stupendous scenes to that Being 
whose " hands formed the dry land." 

Now on the subject of your pursuit and mode of 
travel it is, that you wish for a few hints from me. 
First then it may be necessary to consult some 
books as guides. The best I am acquainted with 
are, Pennant's Tour through Wales, 2 vols. 4to. 
1784. Wyndham's Tour, 4to. 1781. Bingley's 
North Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1804. Malkin's South 
Wales, 4to. 1804, and a work in small 8vo. by Ni- 
cholson, of Stourport in Worcestershire, called "The 
Cambrian Traveller's Guide." It is a compilation 
from the modern tourists, and condenses much in- 
formation into a small compass. You will find 

b 2 



4 LETTERS ON THE 

much taste and knowledge of the country in Sir 
Richard Colt Hoare's Translation of Giraldus : * 
and if your route include Monmouthshire, Coxe's 
Historical Tour through that county, 2! vols. 4to. 
1801, will be very useful; it is embellished with 
some good plates. But for your further edification 
on the subject of the principality, I will send you 
a catalogue of some other publications. 

As to some general direction for taking a view, 
an eminent artist, when I first began to sketch 
from nature, gave me this — Choose the most hand- 
some objects, and the best assemblage of parts. 
But this, masterly as it is, would no more satisfy 
you, I apprehend, than it did me, because it can- 
not be followed without experience. You shall 
therefore have the benefit of mine (such as it is) — 
a detail of "the most handsome objects," in my 
excursions, and " the best assemblage of parts ;" 
in other words, my choice of subjects, and of situa- 
tions for drawing them. In planning your route, 

* The Itinerary of Giraldus De Barri through Wales with 
Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury, to preach the Crusade, 
A. D. 1588. 3 vols. 4to. 1806. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 5 

you would find it useful to look over the cata- 
logues of our public exhibitions, for such views as 
might be included in it. It is safe to study scenes 
chosen by professors, and a stimulus to recollect 
that they have been drawn. I will send you a 
list. Your first aim, of course, will be the cha- 
racteristic features of the country, and then to 
exercise your taste and judgment in selecting 
them. Artists, of merit in other respects, some- 
times fail in this. With considerable facility and 
fidelity of pencil, and even skill in colouring, they 
have little notion of catching the grand peculia- 
rities of a country, or of choosing them judiciously. 
I have met with such indefatigable fellows, draw- 
ing all day long all that came in their way ; and 
this may be good practice, and help to fill the hint 
book, but it surely neither improves the taste of 
the artist, nor displays his genius. Be it your 
care then to study, and bring back with you, such 
scenes of sublimity and beauty as wear Cambrian 
features, and are not to be found at home ; and to 
which I very sincerely wish my sketches were a 
better introduction. 



6 LETTERS ON THE 

But before we proceed, I will endeavour to ex- 
plain the principle upon which my stations are de- 
termined. This therefore shall be the subject of 
my next letter. 

Yours, &c. 



PUBLICATIONS ON WALES. 

Churchyard's Worthiness of Wales, Svo. 1587. 
Camden's Britannia, Edit. Gibson, folio, 1696. 

Edit. Gough, 3 vols, folio, 1789. 

Cambrian Directory, 8vo. 1800. 

Cambrian Itinerary, Svo. 1801. 

Cambrian Register, 2 vols. 8vo. 1795 and 1796. 

Cambrian Biography, 12mo. 1803. 

Collection of Welch Tours, 12mo. 1797. 

Collection of Welch Travels, and Memoirs on Wales, by 

J. T. Svo. 1738. 
Doddridge's Historical Account of the Principality of Wales, 

Svo. 2d Edit. 1714. 
Grose's Antiquities of England and Wales, 10 vols. 4to. 

1784. 
Geographical, Historical, and Religious Account of the 



SCENERY OT WALES. 7 

Parish of Aberystvvith in Monmouthshire, by Edward 

Jones, Svo. 1779. 
History of Welch Cathedrals, by Brown Willis, 4 vols. Svo. 

1801. 
History of Brecknockshire, by Theophilus Jones, vol. first, 

4to. 1805. 
History of Wales, by R. B. 12mo. 1695. 
Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welch Bards, folio. 

1794. 

Bardic Museum of Primitive British Literature, folio. 

1802. 
Letters from Snowdon, 8vo. 1770. 
Myvyrian Archaeology of Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1802. 
Memoirs of Owen Glendower, 4to. 1775. 
Manby's History of St. David's, 8vo. 1801. 
Owen's History of the Ancient Britons, 8vo. 

British Remains. 

Powel's History of Cambria, written originally in the British 

Language, above 200 years past, translated into English, by 

H. Lloyd; corrected and augmented by D. Powel, D. D. 

4to. 1584. 
Rowland's Mona Antiqua, 4to. 1776. 
Sketch of the History of Caernarvonshire, 12mo. 1792. 
Traveller's Companion (from London) through Wales to 

Holyhead, 12mo. 1796. 
Vindication of Ancient British Poems, by Sharon Turner, 

8vo. 1804. 



8 LETTERS ON THE 

Williams's History of Monmouthshire, 4to. 1796. 
Wallography, or Briton Described, by W. R. 1682. 
Wynne's Memoirs of the Gwydir Family, printed in the 

Honourable Daines Barrington's Miscellanies, 4to. 1781. 
Warrington's History of Wales, 2 vols. 4to. 1786, another 

edition, 2 vols. 8vo. 
Williams's Observations on the Snowdon Mountains, 8vo. 

1802. 

MODERN TOURS. 

Aikin's Journal of a Tour through North Wales, 8vo. 

1797. 
Barber's Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1803. 
Donovan's Tour through South Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1805. 
Evans's Tour through North Wales, 8vo. 1800. 

South Wales, 8vo. 1804. 

Hutton's Remarks on North Wales, 8vo. 1803, 
Lipscombe's Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1802. 
Manby's Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1803. 
Skrine's Two Tours through the whole of Wales, 8vo. 

2d edit. 1812. 
Tour through England and Wales, 8vo. 1793. Anon. 

Tour through part of South Wales, by a Pedestrian Traveller, 

4to. 1797. 
W T arner's Walk through North Wales, 8vo. 4th edit. 1801. 
Warner's Second Walk through Wales, 8vo. 2d edit. 1800, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 



LETTER II. 

To you, who are at the fountain head of 
mathematical lore, I must not suppose this letter 
will be formidable. You may, however, make out 
my stations, without perplexing yourself with the 
principle upon which they are determined. I 
expand it rather, as it would enable you, by 
inspecting any drawing, to discover where the 
artist stood to make it ; and so to take the same 
view yourself. 

The principle I have used is, the bearings or 
relative position of two Jixed objects in the view; 
and that they will determine the station, may be 
thus demonstrated : 



10 LETTERS ON THE 

Let A and B be the objects, in different planes, 
AC the distance from one of them A, at which they 
assume a given position. Through C draw DCE 
at right angles to AC, then the station must be in 
DCE; and if at E, A and B assume another given 
position, E is the station sought. 

If at E two other objects, or either of the former 
and a third, assume a given position, the con- 
clusion is the same. 

From this proof it appears that, to determine 
the station, two distances are necessary, the per- 
pendicular and the oblique. 

The perpendicular distance is found from the 
given relative position of the objects, as one ap- 
pears above or below the other. Because, as the 
eye is either above or below the line passing 
through them, their apparent position will be 
changed in those directions. The oblique distance 
is found in the same manner, by observing the 
bearings of the objects with respect to right and 
left. 

There is a difficulty in the application of this 
rule. The position of A and B can be accurately 



SCENERY OF WALES. II 




determined only by their appearing in the same 
line to the observer at C. If then it is thus 
determined, and he begins to move off at right 
angles towards E, A and B will be no longer 
in the same line, and he cannot be sure that he 
has moved accurately in the proper direction. To 
obviate this difficulty, it would be better to deter- 
mine the oblique distance first. The following is 
a readier method of finding the station from which 
a sketch was taken. 




Move right or left till two objects A and B 
appear in a line, as observed in the sketch ; 
then move backwards or forwards, keeping these 
objects in a line, till at C, two others D and E, 



12 LETTERS ON THE 

are also in a line, as noticed in the sketch ; the 
point C is the station sought. This method is 
more accurate, but I have found the other suffi- 
ciently so, and more generally practicable. To 
illustrate it, take any of my sketches, the easier 
case first, where the perpendicular distance is given, 
as that of Brecon. (PI. 5, fig. 1.) 

The perpendicular distance here is given, be- 
cause you cannot be nearer the objects than the 
water's edge. As you move right or left, the 
distant church tower will change its position, in 
one of those directions, with respect to the bridge; 
but in the sketch it is exactly over the right hand 
arch : stop, therefore, when it appears so. Your 
station is then accurately determined, every other 
object in the picture falling into its proper situa- 
tion. 

Next try a subject in which the perpendicular 
distance is not given, as in the view of Dolbadarn 
Tower. (PI. 5, fig. 3.) 

When you face the tower, the top of the most 
distant mountain will be seen or not, to the left of 
it, as you move left or right ; bring it therefore a 



SCENERY OF WALES. 13 

little to the left, as it appears in the sketch — this 
gives the oblique distance. Then, as in the sketch, 
the outline of the same mountain meets the tower 
between the two lowest windows, move backwards 
or forwards till it appears so, and the perpendi- 
cular distance is determined. 

With this explanation and a little practice, you 
will be able, I think, to ascertain the position from 
whence any sketch was taken, and therefore to 
study the view from the same point. 

In my next I will provide you with a few 
externals, and fit you out in my own way as a 
pedestrian. 

Yours, &c. 



14 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER III. 

The remark of Johnson, though no pedes- 
trian, is equally just and elegant : " It is not to 
be imagined, without experience, how in climbing 
crags, and treading bogs, and winding through 
narrow and obstructed passages, a little bulk will 
hinder, and a little weight will burden ; or how 
often a man, that has pleased himself at home 
with his own resolution, will, in the hour of dark- 
ness and fatigue, be content to leave behind him 
every thing but himself." * It should, in fact, be 
the first aim of a pedestrian to carry as little 
weight and incumbrance as possible. Let this 
then be your dress : Jacket, waistcoat, trowsers, 
and gaiters of the stuff called Jean — light and 
strong. Shoes stout, broad, well seasoned, made 
to each foot, and without nails — they are danger- 

* Journey to the Hebrides, p. 1 1 1 . Edit. Murphy. 

6 



SCENEHY OF WALES. 15 

ous on rocky ground : top the whole with a straw, 
or rather willow hat. Nor must an umbrella, by 
any means be forgotten, it is a trusty useful ser- 
vant, choose it of silk, and of the largest size. 

Next for your luggage. Get made, of the brown- 
dressed calf-skin used by saddlers, a case about 
eleven inches and a half long, by seven wide, a 
trifle rounded at the bottom, lined with canvas, 
and having a flap and button. This is to be slung 
over the shoulder with loop and button (not buckle); 
and thus may be easily shifted to either side, and 
adjusted to any height. A complete change of 
linen, shaving implements, map, and the smaller 
drawing books, are all it need contain ; and when 
filled, the whole will not weigh more than between 
three and four pounds. For greater convenience, 
a small trunk may be dispatched, when you set 
out, to wait your arrival somewhere, three or four 
weeks after. 

The sketch books I have used are, two about 
nine inches long by six and three-quarters wide, 
containing thirty leaves each ; and three smaller 
about four inches and a half long by six and three 



16 LETTERS ON THE 

quarters wide. All of them should be made of 
thin hot-pressed paper ; this takes the pencil best, 
is most portable, and if held against the light, the 
exact reverse of a sketch may be readily copied. 
The smaller books may be conveniently put into 
the leather case : the larger, folded in paper, I 
have usually carried in my hand. By the way, 
the best preservative of pencil lines that I can tell 
you of, is a wash of thin starch, twice over very 
dark parts. This does not shine, and it may be 
procured almost any where. Some other articles 
are necessary : a two-sheet map of the principality 
mounted upon canvass,* a supply of black lead 
pencils, Indian rubber, a pen-knife or two, (dupli- 
cates guard against accidents,) Indian ink, and a 
few brushes : one or two good lancets also may be 
found very serviceable. 

Whether you will think these preparations com- 
plete without a companion, I know not : one of 
congenial taste may be desirable, no doubt, though 
never my choice. There is one thing more, how- 

* One is sold by C. Smith in the Strand, accurate in general. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 17 

ever which a pedestrian must not be without — 
perseverance. 

The best season is easily determined : that, 
namely, in which the days are longest, and the 
weather most settled. You will, of course, choose 
July and August. 

I can give you no rule for laying out your day ; 
so much must depend upon constitution, habit, 
weather, length of stages, and various accidental 
circumstances. If, to avoid the heat, you walk 
late in an evening, this plan can hardly be followed 
up by an early morning walk, and that has never 
succeeded with me. I have always thought the 
time from six to nine o'clock in a morning, the 
most sultry and oppressive part of the day. No 
breeze is awake, no clouds collected, the sun's 
power steady and increasing, and the bodily frame 
not yet braced and fortified against it. The plan 
I have found most eligible is, to begin my walk 
after as early a breakfast as I can procure, reach 
my destination in the afternoon, then taking an- 
other meal, give the evening to exploring and 
sketching. At all events, do not time yourself ; 

c 



18 LETTERS ON THE 

many a fine drawing is thus lost : sunrise and 
sunset are the only hours a pedestrian need notice. 
Neither is a pocket of provisions necessary ; a crust, 
with a draught from some brook, will carry you 
through the day. 

You will find bathing very useful and refresh- 
ing, and have many tempting opportunities in the 
course of your tour. It should, however, be early 
in a morning. 

Thus lessoned and equipped, I will imagine you 
to have travelled, with what rapidity you may, to 
Bristol, then to the New Passage, and, having 
crossed the Severn, to pitch upon your feet on the 
coast of Monmouthshire — from thence we will start 
together in the next letter. 

Yours, &c. 



I subjoin my route through South Wales, with 
the number of miles between the places, as accurate- 
ly as I could collect them ; and also the inns I 
stopped at ; though the same inn, remember, may 
not always continue the best. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 19 

MILES. INNS. 

New Passage to Newport , 15 King's Head. 

Caerphilly 12 Boar's Head. 

New Bridge .... 8 Duke's Arms. 

Pontneath Vechan 20 Angel. 

Neath 13 Neath Arms. 

Swansea 4 Mackworth Arms, 

Caermarthen .... 26 Old Ivy Bush. 

Llaugharne 12 New Inn. 

Tenby 16 Anchor. 

Narbeth 10 White Hart. 

Cardigan 26 Black Lion. 

Newcastle in Emlyn 10 No Sign. 

Llanbeder 19 Black Lion. 

Tregaron 12 No Sign. 

Devil's Bridge .. 18 HafodArms. 

Rhayader 17 Red Lion. 

Bualt 17 Royal Oak. 

Brecon 15 Angel. 

Abergavenny .... 20 Golden Lion. 

Monmouth 16 Angel. 

Chepstow 16 Beaufort Arms. 



c2 



20 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER IV. 

Your first stage will be Newport, about 
fifteen miles. Gilpin thought the view from the 
descent into the town would make a good picture. 
He ascended the hill, and says, " a good view 
might be taken from the retrospect of the river, 
the bridge, and the castle, a few slight alterations 
would make it picturesque." * But when he tra- 
velled in 1770, the old timber bridge was standing 
— not quite so formal an object as the present one 
of stone. 

Newport is a narrow, straggling town, and has 
nothing to detain you, except perhaps the King's 
Head, a good inn. The castle on the banks of 
the river is a mere shell. From the church-yard 
there is an extensive and beautiful prospect east- 

* Observations on the Wye, p. 34. 



SCENERY OF WALES. %1 

ward, especially when lighted up with an afternoon 
sun : the Uske, spotted with white sails, and wind- 
ing through a fertile country to meet the Severn, 
is a conspicious feature. 

Twelve miles, of no great interest, bring you to 
Caerphilly. You enter Wales at Bedwas Bridge, 
crossing the Rhumney there, which separates Gla- 
morgan from Monmouthshire. 

In the general picturesque character of Glamor- 
ganshire there is all the variety that sea and rivers, 
mountains and valleys, can supply; and accordingly 
you will find it much studied by landscape paint- 
ers. It has been remarked as resembling North 
Wales, more than any of the six counties. The 
mountains, though not so high, have the extreme 
abruptness of those in Merionethshire ; and the 
views near the Channel will often remind you of 
the opposite coast of Somerset. That it wants 
wood, as some have said, you may fairly deny, 
after having seen New Bridge, Pontneath Vechan, 
the Vale of Neath, and Britton Ferry. It pro- 
duces plentifully oak, beech, ash, and all the com- 
mon forest trees, except elm, which is said to be 



22 LETTERS ON THE 

an indigenous.* The antiquity of the cottages 
deserves your notice. Some of them are probably 
as old as the castles, their pointed door-ways and 
windows referring them to a very remote date. 
They are generally white washed, a Welch fashion 
very prevalent in this country, walls, battlements 
of churches, barns, stables, posts and rails, all par- 
taking of this neat but un-harmonizing custom. 
Malkin mentions another peculiarity in the 
face of this country. In the flat parts of it, 
and near the sea, at the greatest distance from 
the mountains, seeing, as you imagine, the whole 
surface of the ground for a considerable stretch, 
you come suddenly on an abrupt sinking, not deep, 
but perpendicular, as the side of a crag, of more 
or less extent, forming a rich, woody, and retired 
shelter. You pass through these sequestered dells, 
ascend the other side, and regain the flat. In- 
stances of this singularity are Llandough, at what 
is called the lake, and between Flemingstone and 
St. Athans.f 

* Malkin's South Wales, p. 61. 
t Ibid. p. 54. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 23 

Caerphilly * is an increasing little town, milage 
you would call it. There are two inns : the 
Boar's Head is the principal. 

The ruins of the Castle, said to be the most 
extensive in Britain, are indeed magnificent ; but 
transfer them to paper as you will, still they are 
heavy, want accompaniment, and a more elevated 
site. The leaning tower too has to my eye the 
appearance of & falling body, an object that cannot 
be represented. This tower, seventy or eighty 
feet high, and eleven and a half (some say more 
now) out of the perpendicular,! is curious, and 

* Pronounced Kaerphilly. C is invariably hard in Welch, 
as the English K. The magnitude and strength of the castle 
have caused the probability of its origin to be much contro- 
verted. When Edward the Second was besieged here, there 
was a furnace under one of the towers for smelting iron, 
burning masses of which were cast upon the besiegers. The 
explosion caused by pouring water upon it, rent the tower in 
two. What stands of it at present is that which overhangs 
its base. Malkin, p. 151 — 157. 

f The celebrated leaning tower of Pisa exceeds this in 
height and inclination. It is 180 feet high, and 14- feet from 
the perpendicular. It is entirely of marble, consists of eight 



24 LETTERS ON THE 

perhaps may induce you to sketch it. The east side 
of the castle is best, towards the south corner. 

An easy bye road of about eight miles, passable 
by carriages, and which they will show you at the 
inn, leads to the Bridgewater Arms, near New 
Bridge. Here a halt should be made, the scenery 
deserves it. The bridge is a beautiful subject for 
the pencil. The three cylindrical holes on each 
side of its airy arch give the front uncommon 
lightness and elegance, and the whole is finely set 
off with rock, wood, and water. The best view is 
from below it. Going from the inn you must 
cross the bridge to the left, and follow the river, 
keeping on the bank. 

STATION. 

Let the shrubs, on the point of land between 
the river and the bridge, hide a quarter of the 

stories, and has now stood 600 years without appearance of 
decay. Its oblique position is now generally supposed to 
have been occasioned by the accidental sinking of the ground. 
Eustace, Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 284. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 25 

arch. Then recede, till you see the water under 
the bridge. 

This is rather more distant than the view 
usually taken. Wilson's (engraved by Canot) is 
nearer, so is Laporte's in Malkin's Work. In this 
station you see less of the formally pointed para- 
pet, and more, I think, of the noble rock in the 
back ground, without losing the peculiar features 
of the bridge. A glimpse of the road descending 
from the bridge, and of the more distant one under 
the rock, add further variety to the picture. 

New Bridge, or Pont y Prydd,* is well known to 
have been built by a self-taught architect, William 
Edwards, a native of the neighbourhood. He com- 
pleted it in 1755, after two successive failures. 

Impatient of its bondage, twice the flood 
Rush'd o'er the ruin'd bridge ; again his hand 
The indignant torrent yoked, and rear'd the work 
Triumphant, that amid the waves shall stand, 
Secure, while Time, by Genius turn'd aside, 
Shall spare (long may he spare) th' unrivall'd arch. 

Sotheby. 

* From Pont ty Pridd, Mid-house Bridge. 



26 LETTERS ON THE 

The arch is probably now the largest in the 
world ; its span being one hundred and forty feet, 
which is forty-two feet wider than the Rialto.* If 
you creep underneath, you may awake a curious 
echo there. I heard it repeat a single sound nine 
times in quick fainting succession. 

The scenery of the Tafff above the bridge is 
rich, and worth tracing two miles on the left side, 
but it did not afford me a picture. The waterfall 
about half a mile up will not do ; but the view 
of the bridge from the rocks in the middle of the 
river there, should not pass unnoticed, and a few 
hints perhaps may be picked up. Just above the 
cascade, for instance, an arch of pendent birches 
springs from the rocky steep on your left — a use- 
ful bit for the corner of a foreground. 

The Rontha Vawr, a narrow, rapid stream, run- 
ning into the TafF a little below New Bridge, will 

* Malkin, p. 88. 

f TafF or Tav, the Broad water. — Rontha, from Yr Hondda 
the good and clear, — Vawr is the feminine of Mawr, great. For 
these and other derivations I am indebted to an ingenious 
friend. 



/.J I < '/,; / ffPX //,, y^i, , // , 



■ 








tja. // < >< //> e yize-yi / A r , 




S&7 I / ' ' \ C4L // ( ^tuCcs^X^-. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 27 

furnish two sketches. Crossing the bridge to the 
left , you presently fall into the road along the 
right side of the Rontha, and in about a mile and 
a half come to another bridge, the veriest contrast 
possible to Pont y Prydd. A narrow footing of 
the trunks of trees, rudely fastened together, and 
defended by a slight rail, is suspended across the 
river by two lofty posts at each end ; the ascent 
is by a flight of ladder steps. Thus lightly con- 
structed, the bridge takes a graceful bend upwards 
from the centre, swinging to and fro with the 
wind. You should draw it from the right bank, 
and looking down the stream, to catch the distance. 

STATION. 

Bring the point where the hanging woods meet, 
over the middle of the bridge ; then move back- 
wards or forwards, till both the distant mountains 
are visible. (PI. 1, fig. 1.) 

Half a mile further are two waterfalls ; the first 
worth sketching. The river, crossed by a range 
of rocks of no great height, falls over in several 



28 LETTERS ON THE 

torrents, which unite with a larger and more furi- 
ous one, foaming through a wide rift about half 
way down. The face of the rocks is well broken, 
their outline pleasing, and varied on the further 
side with light trees and herbage ; a perspective 
of wood rising behind. You must descend to the 
bed of the river to draw it. 

STATION. 

Let the rock before you just hide the rift which 
the lowest torrent flows through ; and the back- 
ground of wood reach over part of the same rock. 

This place is said to be a salmon leap, and some 
figures hanging their fish basket from rock to rock, 
would enliven and give it character. 

We have now finished our survey of the beau- 
ties round New Bridge, and may shape our course 
to Pontneath Vechan.* If you are fond of the 
wild and difficult, and can meet with a guide (I 
could not), by all means take Malkin's thirty mile 

* The Bridge over the little Neath. — Vechan, the feminine 
of Bychan, little. Nedd, or Neath, the gliding river. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 29 

route through the parish of Ystradyvodwg. He 
says it " exhibits such scenes of untouched nature, 
as the imagination would find it difficult to sur- 
pass. And yet the existence of the place is scarcely 
known to the English Traveller."* It is practic- 
able on horseback, but not for any sort of carriage. 
If a guide be not procurable, you must trudge with 
me the easier and less interesting road through 
Aberdare. 

Yours, &c. 

* South Wales, p. 53 and 183. 



LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER V. 

The distance to Pontneath Vecchan by Aber- 
clare,* may be about twenty miles. I took the 
new turnpike road, not aware of the horse-track 
on the right bank of the Cunno, which Malkin 
followed, and which, from his description, would 
probably have afforded some interesting subjects 
for the pencil. f It is a good general rule for this 
purpose, in any country, to trace the rivers. 

The first four miles follow the canal bank ; the 
Taff rushing below a steep hanging wood on the 
left, and the vale opening beautifully north and 
south. The road then crosses the canal ; and 
here you should stop and look at the locks, by 
which the canal is carried over a very steep hill. 

* The Efflux of the Bar. Aber, the fall of a lesser water 
into a greater. 

f South Wales, p. 167. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 31 

There are no less than eighteen within the space 
of a mile, eleven of them occupying only about a 
quarter of it ! A chain of wooded mountains on 
either side continues from hence to Aberdare ; a 
mean solitary village, though now beginning to 
catch the manufacturing spirit of that neighbouring 
"metropolis of iron-masters," Merthyr Tydvil. 

After some miles of naked heath, you begin to 
descend the side of the mountain, and suddenly 
look down upon the grand scenery of Pontneath 
Vechan. Far below lie the few straggling cot- 
tages which form the hamlet, half hid under tower- 
ing woody precipices, with the rapid Neath at their 
feet. To the south, the vale unfolds its beauties 
of mead, and river, and gently sloping hills, gra- 
dually receding and fading into softer and fainter 
tints, till in the extreme distance appears, like a 
lucid point, the sea. 

The village has a public-house (the Angel), 
where you will find it adviseable to fix your quar- 
ters two or three days. The accommodations are 
such as a pedestrian may be content with. 

The peculiar beauty of this romantic spot arises 



32 LETTERS ON THE 

from its many rivers, no less than 1^ve — the Neath, 
Melta, Tragath, Hepsey, and Purthin. In Wales 
almost every brook is dignified with the name of 
river, yet they are often far from undeserving the 
attention of the artist. - Probably " many rivers of 
smaller note, and even many contributary streams, 
possess beauties which have been discovered but by 
the fisherman, who, in pursuit of the trout or salmon, 
has been tempted to follow their meandering courses."* 
Here, winding through woody dingles, rocky, and 
deep, and varied with bridges and water-falls, they 
afford abundant exercise for the pencil. Another 
peculiarity in the rivers of this rocky country is, 
their clearness : and this greatly increases the dis- 
tinctness of their reflections, and the brilliancy of 
the falls. 

Neath Vechan Bridge, hard by the inn, will 
make two easy pleasing sketches. One just beloxv 
it. Go from the inn to the bridge ; do not cross 
it, but turn down upon the right bank beloxv the 
first large tree, which will fix your perpendicular 
distance. 

* Sir R. C. Hoare's Translation of Giraldus. vol. ii. p. 407. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 33 

STATION. 

At the foot of the tree, move right or left till 
two-thirds of the whole arch are seen. 

This is a useful study for composing some future 
landscape, rather than a complete picture. The rude 
old stone arch, rocky hanks, and overshadowing 
trees, will afford you some work, and the rippling 
current, excellent practice in a sort of water-fall, 
rarely well executed. The other view is lower 
down, on the same side of the river ; taking in two 
cottages on the opposite bank, and a back ground 
of wood. Here again the perpendicular distance 



is given. 



STATION. 

On the third projecting ridge of rock from the 
bridge, catch three quarters of the whole arch. 
(PL 1, fig. 3.) 

Here the bridge appears much lighter, and a 
painter could hardly have hung the ivy better ; 

D 



34 LETTERS ON THE 

The river is wider and more gentle ; and the fine 
old tree (an oak, I think,) just where you want it, 
to fill up the left corner of the picture. I have 
seen a third view taken close to the inn, and 
looking directly over the bridge ; but it has little 
beauty and les*s character. 

I must now show you some scenes more truly 
Cambrian. First cross the bridge from the inn, turn 
immediately to the left, down to the river, and 
you will face a noble piece of rock — lofty, broad- 
fronted, tufted with pendent foliage, and descending 
to the river in oblique irregular strata. Possibly it 
may give you a hint. Next go straight over the 
bridge, and follow a lane nearly before you, till 
you come to a bridge over the Neath ; cross it, 
descend the right bank, and turning immediately 
to the left, a bold subject is before you. A stone 
arch flung across a high rifted rock ; two massy 
fragments, one upon the other, block up the en- 
trance below ; others lie about in confusion ; shrubs 
and ivy shoot from the crevices of the rock, and 
overhang the arch, or break its outline. A near 
view only can be taken. 



PL TV 




4^ 




V 




SCENERY OF WALES. 35 



STATION. 



At the foot of the rock on the left. Move right 
or left, till its highest ledge catches that point of 
the arch where the interior begins to be seen. 
(PI. 4, fig. 1.) 

You must here, as usual, clear away twigs, and 
weeds, and other impertinences. Few things are 
mere perplexing to a beginner's eye, used only to 
finished copies, than the coarse luxuriance of 
nature. The chasm here seemed the channel of 
some mountain torrent ; so you may fairly em- 
bellish it with water. The old Merthyr Tydvil 
road (they told me) passed over it. 

The Neath bridge, just by, is sometimes drawn, 
and best at some distance belozv it. Almost any 
thing of a bridge is picturesque. The form per- 
fectly so perhaps is a straight parapet with equal 
arches.* 

* Compare for instance the late magnificent bridge across 
the Thames with its companions. 

D 2 



36 LETTERS ON THE 

The water-falls about Pontneath Vechan, though 
many, are not famed for height or beauty. I saw 
three ; a guide is necessary, and to be had at the 
inn. Ask a Welchman, what is worth seeing at a 
place ? he generally replies, What do you want to 
see ? tell him that, and he can readily show you the 
way. Ask then to be shown the two falls of the 
Purthin, and that of the Hepsey : the last for its 
singularity. The height is not more than fifty 
feet, but so rapid is the torrent, that it leaps over 
the projecting brow of rock far enough to allow a 
path behind it — between the sheet of water and 
the rock, which shelves inward, forming a sort of 
roof. This path is a ledge of stone, about a yard 
wide, and the common short cut to the neighbour- 
ing farms. A modern tourist, with good fortune 
peculiar to himself, says, that he took shelter 
under this watery arch from a shoxver ! Malkin 
speaks of the effect of sunshine on this cascade, to 
a spectator behind it, as singularly beautiful.* 

* South Wales, p. 211. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 37 



STATION. 



On the right side of the fall, far enough off to 
see both the wooded hills which form the distance. 
Let the point where they meet be a little to the 
left of the rock you descended. 

I give this station merely as the fall is some- 
thing curious ; perhaps the view from the opposite 
side of the water is better, but the cloud of spray 
would not let me try it. Further on is the fall of 
the Melta, inaccessible from below ; so I did not 
visit it. The height is about seventy feet, and 
broader than the Hepsey. They told me of a 
cavern through which the Melta runs, for at least 
eight hundred yards ; there is a practicable path 
through it, but nothing within, that I could learn, 
to repay the hazardous labour of threading it. 
Not that I think with Gilpin, " there is no pic- 
turesque beauty in the interior of the earth."* The 
cavern scenery of Derbyshire, especially the Devil's 

* Northern Tour, vol. ii. p. 216. 



38 LETTERS ON THE 

cave, that favourite study of our favourite Wright,, 
has taught me a different lesson.* Did you ever 
try the method of drawing rock and cavern scenes 
on the common brown packing paper ? use transpa- 
rent colours, leave the paper for the middle tint, and 
touch the strongest lights with body colours. It 
produces the mellow effect of old oil paintings. 

The upper fall of the Purthin, called (if I mis- 
take not) Ysgwd Einion Gam, or Einio?i's crooked 
water-fall, is about a mile and half from the inn. 
The subject is grand, but rather too open, I think, 
for the pencil ; and the precipice on the left has a 
concave form not easily represented. The best 
view is from the right bank looking up, just 

* " I have held the candle for him there scores of times" 
said my guide, pointing to a spot which looked toward the 
entrance. The effect was wonderful. The vast and rugged 
arches were seen in perspective ; from their termination a full 
beam of day-light entered, diffusing a grey hue around, soft 
and clear as moonlight ; and gradually fading as it approached 
the foreground, the objects and passing figures there were 
thrown into strong shade, except a few of the nearest faintly 
illumined by our candles. 




&kff rn SA< /-I,,//,', 




c^C^£^ " f /> r< > ''/ '',,,,//< 







SCENERY OF WALES. 39 

below a sort of wear. The rocks on either side of 
the fall are lofty, and richly decorated, and the 
trees on each bank — oak, ash, and alder — well 
planted for your purpose. The water descends 
eighty feet perpendicular, and at about three parts 
of the descent is lost behind the rocks, but appears 
again at the bottom, darting smooth along, and 
springing over the wear in a variety of light cas- 
cades. This wear is a graceful appendage to the 
fall, like a fringe to a lady's dress. 

STATION. 

Let the rocks on each side of the fall meet 
at about three-fourths the whole height from the 
top. Then approach the wear, till you see the 
water above it. (PI. 2, fig. 1.) 

A curious anecdote is told of Sir Herbert Mack- 
worth, to whom this property formerly belonged. 
He had much admired this water-fall, and had cut 
a road down to it. But the last time he visited it, 
in passing along this very road, a thorn from one 
of the bushes ran into his finger. Inflammation 



40 LETTERS ON THE 

and mortification quickly followed, and in a few 
days terminated his life. 

The other fall is somewhat lower down, and 
named, from its elegance perhaps, the Lady's 
Cascade, The eye may trace a graceful line 
through almost every part — the bend of the ribbed 
rock across the river, the sweep of the water in one 
unbroken sheet, the winding channel, and the slope 
of the towering wooded steep behind. The height 
is about thirty feet. My sketch was taken from 
the left bed of the river looking up. 

STATION. 

Let the shrubby bank on your left screen the 
near end of the ribbed rock ; recede, till you just 
lose sight of the river above it. 

This cascade, though much more beautiful, 
resembles in character that of the Hepsey ; both 
of them being crossed by a projecting brow of 
roc k — a singular, but not unfrequent feature here. 

I had almost forgotten a geological curiosity in 
this neighbourhood, called Bwa Maen {the stone 



SCENERY OF WALES. 41 

of the bow.) A flat fronted rock of grey marble, 
about ninety feet high, and seventy broad; the 
outline of which forms the fourth part of a circle, 
its strata lying in concentric lines. I saw it only 
from above, but apprehend you will not find it 
worth drawing ; a rude engraving of it is given 
in Warner's Second Walk. 

These are all the lions of Pontneath Vechan, 
that I at least have seen ; and you will, I think, 
agree with me that they deserve to be visited 
oftener than they are. There are probably many 
spots yet unexplored, which would well repay the 
artist's search. And a ride or drive hither up the 
Vale of Neath, is an excursion that may be con- 
fidently recommended to those, who have not 
leisure or strength for laborious travel. They 
would, in a few miles, find themselves amidst 
scenes marked with some of the most romantic 
features of the Principality, and entirely differ en t 
from the neighbourhood of Neath or Swansea. 

Yours, &c. 



42 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER VI. 

From Pontncath Vechan to Neath, are thir- 
teen miles : an easy pleasant road along the vale ; 
the latter part by the side of the canal. The only 
attraction to a picturesque traveller is the fall of the 
Cledaugh,* at Melin Court, five miles from Neath. 
You will find a neat sketch of it in Malkin's Work, 
by Laporte.f Artists, however, are not agreed 
upon its merits; I have heard it called a mere 
spout ; you must judge for yourself, I did not see 
it. A cascade at Aberdillis mill is praised by some, 
but I have seen no drawing of it by any modern 
artist. 

Neath contains nothing in your way. It is 
close, and with few exceptions, meanly built. I 

* Or Clydach, sheltered. Melin Court is Melin y Cwrt, 
Court Mill. 
t South Wales, p. 597. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 43 

found the Neath Arms a comfortable second-rate 
inn ; the principal are said to be the Ship and 
Castle, and the Angel. The castle is a trifling 
ruin. The abbey, too,* (does not your pencil start 
at the word?) will disappoint you. The remains, 
though large, are nothing but detached masses, 
picturesque neither taken singly nor combined. 
But it has been judiciously observed, that " the 
artist's eye may in a great degree be unfairly pre- 
judiced against the ruins, by the dirty, unharmo- 
nizing tints they assume; and the same forms, 
placed in a solitary and woodland vale, might 
become objects of attention and admiration." f 
They are inhabited now by the poor families of 
labourers in the adjacent collieries and copper 
mines. 

To Britton Ferry is a mile and a half. Here the 
scenery is exceedingly rich and beautiful : the 

* Neath Abbey is said to have afforded a temporary re- 
fuge to our unfortunate Edward the Second, after his escape 
from Caerphilly castle. This seems the only interesting cir- 
cumstance in its history. Malkin, p. 598. 

f Sir R. C. Hoare's Trans. Girald. Cambr. vol. i. p. 164. 



44 LETTERS ON THE 

Neath River falling into Swansea Bay at the foot 
of some lofty sweeping hills, clothed with wood to 
the water's edge. The church-yard is often ad- 
mired, and you will see there that affecting Welch 
custom of planting the graves of deceased friends 
with flowers. Do you remember Mason's Elegy, 
written on this very spot ? how beautiful those 
lines — 

These to renew with more than annual care, 

That wakeful love with pensive step will go ; 

The hand that lifts the dibble shakes with fear, 

Lest haply it disturb the friend below. 

Vain fear ! yet who that boasts a heart to feel, 
An eye to pity, would that fear reprove ? 
They only, who are cursed with breasts of steel, 
Can mock the foibles of surviving love. 

I know not, if, like me, you rarely pass a church- 
yard without looking in. One often meets with 
some hint for the sketch book — a curious cross, 
ramified window, ruined porch, mass of ivy, old 
tree, or even a picturesque tombstone, and some- 
times an epitaph worth copying : the Welch 
church-yards are often very poetical. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 45 

A clever sketch of the Ferry may be taken, if I 
can but make you comprehend where. Cross the 
ferry, follow the river, till you come to a shrubby 
Knoll with a lime-kiln under it ; the road winding 
to the right, between the knoll and a wood called 
Earl's Wood. 

STATION. 

Bring the road exactly between the knoll and 
the wood ; and the top of the knoll into the same 
horizontal line with that of the ferry-house. 

This general view comprizes, I think, all the 
principal objects : the Ferry-house, luxuriant wood- 
crowned hills above it, river, and channel. It will 
require scarcely any alteration, but is ready for the 
pencil, and capable of high embellishment, and 
beautiful colouring. 

Here is a good inn, much improved of late years, 
and kept up, probably, by summer parties from 
Neath and Swansea. 

My walk to Swansea was along the low land, 
near the shore, about four miles, and easily traced. 



46 LETTERS ON THE 

Swansea has lately become a bathing place of some 
resort. It is clean and well built, and the Mack- 
worth Arms an excellent inn. The castle is only 
one massy tower, about eighty feet high. The 
church is neat, and contains a few fair monuments. 
A flourishing pottery on Wedgewoocl's plan is es- 
tablished here, which perhaps you will look at ; it 
is something in your taste. There is a Swansea 
Guide published, which is said to be accurate, and 
may be useful in telling what is to be seen, though 
not always worth seeing. 

The Bay, as well as that of Dublin, has been 
compared to the Bay of Naples ; yet I see not the 
resemblance between Swansea and Dublin Bays, 
except in general character. It is spacious, certainly, 
and handsome, with much to interest the artist. I 
can direct you to two, or rather a pair of pleasing 
subjects. On your way to Oystermouth Castle, 
inquire for Black Pill Bridge. It commands 
an agreeable view of the bay, the headland, and 
village under it, with the Mumbles in distance. 
You must sketch above the bridge, of course ; 
and on the left side of the stream looking down. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 47 

STATION. 

Bring the further end of the village over the 
middle of the arch. Then let the land below the 
bridge meet the parapet over the left end of the 
arch. 

The other is a view looking back. After pass- 
ing Oystermouth a considerable way, yon descend 
to the shore, under a steep point of land, near 
some houses where ship-building is sometimes 
going on. The village and castle above it appear 
in the first distance. 

STATION. 

Bring the outline of the steep a little to the 
right of the houses, and their top into the same 
horizontal line with that of the castle. 

This view is simple, and will need embellish- 
ment ; but both of them show the character of the 
bay — light, open, cheerful ; and they include the 
best objects in it. You will find other spots on this 
side of Swansea worth your notice. The ruins of 



48 LETTERS ON THE 

Oystermouth Castle are handsome, and boldly 
situated near the coast. Carwell Bay, and Puldw 
Point are grand and rocky scenes ; the former 
should be visited at low water ; and by keeping 
close upon the shore from Puldw to Oxwich Point, 
you have a complete view of that Bay.* Pennarth 
Castle may also be tried, and the Mumbles Light 
House. This is a pretty object seen through an 
excavation in one of the contiguous rocks.f 

I did not toil up the Mountain Cwm Bryn to 
see King Arthur's Stone, or, as the Welch call it, 
the Stone of Sketty. Antiquaries describe it as 
the largest Cromlech in Wales ; the horizontal 
stone weighing more than twenty tons. An 
old writer in Camden says well enough, — "the 
carriage, rearing, and placing this mighty rock, is 
plainly an effect of human industry and art ; but 
the pulleys and levers, the force and skill, by which 
it was done, are not so easily imagined.":): 

* Malkin, p. 589. 

f Donovan's Tour, vol. ii. p. 201. 

% Camden, p. 620. Edit. Gibson. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 49 

After leaving Swansea, my route will take you 
six and twenty tame miles to Caermarthen. Not 
an interesting object the whole way; if you except 
Pont ar Dulas, and a glen about three miles from 
Caermarthen. The former need not stop you; 
the latter might afford some hints, if one could 
get down. It is deep, overhung with trees, a 
stream dashing along the bottom. 

Yours, &c. 



i: 



50 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER VII. 

Caermarthenshire* does not rank high as 
a picturesque county. It is generally hilly, and 
therefore the landscapes may be bold and striking. 
The mountains, which occupy a considerable part, 
are black and dreary, and never sublime. The 
vales are rich, and those through which the 
smaller rivers run, in general retired and rural ; 
but their aspect more uniform than those of Gla- 
morgan and Cardigan. The villages near the 
coast are often beautiM ; but in the north of the 
county their condition, and that of the solitary 
cottagers, is most wretched, except in that tract 

* Caermarthen, or Caer-Merdin, is Merlins Town ; so 
called from the British prophet, Merlin Ambrose, being found 
there, when searched for by command of Vortigern. Mal- 
kin, p. 558. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 51 

which borders on Cardiganshire.* Caermarthen is 
one of the best built towns, but the mixture of 
white-washed houses, slated roofs, and brick chim- 
neys, is far from agreeable to a painter's eye. Some 
modern author (I forget who) says, the vacant 
glare of whitened buildings, so frequent in Wales, 
always reminds him of " the eternal grin of a fool." 
Caermarthen was formerly walled, and fortified with 
a castle, the remains of which are now used as a 
gaol. Being situated on the Tovy, which is navi- 
gable up to the town, it commands considerable 
export trade. My inn was the Old Ivy Bush, 
not that near the river — the head Inn ; though I 
have on another occasion stopped there, and found 
the accommodations in every way excellent — good 
post horses, coach room, &c. 

You will probably think the Vale of Tovy worth 
a ramble. Gilpin, who came down it, speaks 
highly of the scenery about Dinevawr Castle. He 
has given three views of it, but I doubt if his 
stations could be determined from them ; nor did I 

* Malkin, p. 538. 
E 2 



52 LETTERS ON THE 

indeed go so far up the vale. Its particular re- 
commendation in his eye is the inequality of the 
ground. " I know few places," he observes, " where 
a painter might study the inequality of a surface 
with more advantage."* To view the castle in the 
most favourable point, Sir R. Hoare says, " it is 
adviseable to go into the meadows on the other 
side the Tovy, where the hill, castle, and river, 
form a most enchanting landscape."! Grongar 
Hill, the theme of Dyer's verse, lies in this vale ; it 
is said, near a place called Court Henry, still be- 
longing to his family. I would recommend to 
your perusal Gilpin's strictures on some passages 
in that Poem. They are judicious, connected with 
your pursuit, and advert particularly to Dinevawr 
Castle. 

As Dyer was a Cambrian Worthy, and a brother 
artist, one of the very few that Wales can boast, 
you may like to know something of his story. He 
was born in 1700, the second son of Robert Dyer, 

* Observations on the Wye, p. 62. 
-j- Girald. Canibr. vol. i. p. 164- 



SCENERY OF WALES. 53 

an eminent solicitor at Aberglassncy in this 
county, near Llandilo Vawr. After passing through 
Westminster School, he was called home, to be 
instructed in his father's profession ; but disliking 
the law, and having always amused himself with 
drawing, he resolved to turn painter, and became 
a pupil to Richardson. Having studied a while 
under his master, he became, as he himself ex- 
presses it, an " itinerant painter," rambling through 
South Wales, and the parts adjacent. Being un- 
satisfied probably with his own proficiency, he, like 
other painters, travelled to Italy ; where, besides 
studying the noblest remains of antiquity, and the 
best productions of the greatest modern masters, 
he used to spend whole days in the country about 
Florence and Rome, composing landscapes. After 
his return in 1740, we hear no more of him as a 
painter. Decline of health, and love of study, de- 
termined him to the church. He therefore entered 
into orders, and afterwards married. His prefer- 
ment was never large. He died July 20, 1758.* 

* Johnson's Life of Dyer. Drake's Literary Hours, vol. i. 
p. 222. 



54 LETTERS ON THE 

He is best known by his poems, Grongar Hill — 
The Fleece — and the Ruins of Rome. These con- 
tain many passages, which bespeak the eye of a 
painter, and show how much the pen may be in- 
debted to the pencil in descriptive poetry. 

Our next stage is to Llaugharne ; taking the 
Narbeth road as far as St. Clears (ten miles), then 
turning off to the left three more. St. Clears is 
an obscure little village, on the banks of Corran ; 
but it has a good inn. A turnpike road runs 
westward from thence through Whitland to Nar- 
beth, about nine miles. 

Llaugharne,* built on the point of an oozy bay, 
consists of a few smart houses, surrounded with 
meanness, much like an Irish town. My quarters 
were the New Inn ; and it may perhaps be of use 
to tell you here, that the place so named, which 
you will pass on the Tenby road, is no inn at all. 

While you are at Llaugharne, I would suggest 
an excursion across the bay to the village of Llan 

* Llaugharne deserves notice as the birth place of Dr. 
Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, in 1712, a name well known in 
the political world. Malkin, p. 514. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 55 

Stephan. Since my tour I have learned, that the 
ruin of the castle is well worth sketching. It is 
built on the top of a perpendicular rock, and com- 
mands a spacious prospect of the Tovy. 

Llaugharne Castle will make you a pair of ex- 
cellent drawings. First, go down the street ; cross 
the brook to one of the houses on your right 
hand — that with a stone horseblock before the 
door : it was a blacksmith's. Then face about just 
below it. 

STATION. 

Let the outer line of the castle (next the water) 
be over the angular point of the wall before it ; 
and the base of the wall as high as the lowest 
windows of the house. 

There are variety and a good assemblage of parts 
in this view. The bay, distant promontory, un- 
common front of the castle mantled with ivy, and 
relieved with trees ; and on the fore-ground, the 
old cross, wooden bridge, and brook, are all proper 
objects, and combine well. It would make a good 



56 LETTERS ON THE 

moonlight, with the contrast of fire light from the 
blacksmith's forge. 

For the second, a light, distant view, you must 
mount the first hill on- the Tenby road. 

STATION. 

Bring the Castle exactly zvithin the angle made 
by the sloping hill and woody steep before it. 
Then ascend or descend, till the water and three 
of the promontories appear above the castle. 

In this station the sea bounds the distance. 
Nature's compositions are seldom complete or cor- 
rect ; but here nothing seems in the wrong place, 
and little which one would wish away. The only 
liberties necessary to be taken are, a tree or stump, 
planted at the left corner, and the uniformity of 
the long hedge on the right of the fore ground 
somewhat broken. 

About five miles from Llaugharne you pass Green 
Bridge, by some thought a curiosity, though no- 
thing more than a small stream on the right side 
of the road, running southward, and sinking at 



SCENERY OF WALES. 57 

that place into a rocky cavity : it is said to flow 
out again on the sea coast near Pendine. This 
bridge is no picture, nor, are there any but exten- 
sive sea views all the way to Tenby, sixteen tedious 
hilly miles. 

Tenby* is a pretty watering place, and well 
adapted for bathing, having a constant sea, very 
clear and not too bold, with a smooth hard beach 
at low water. But it is not, I think, picturesque. 
The rocks, on which the town is built, are insignifi- 
cant, the church spire formal, and the ruins of the 
castle, except as a distant object, detached and un- 
meaning. I send you however a station, as the 
place is much praised by some — on the Narbeth 
road, just beyond a bend to the right, about a 
mile and half from the town, looking south- 
east. 

STATION. 

Let the horizon be exactly as high as the church 
tower ; bring that over the bend of the road. 

* Tenby, or Dinbych, is The Precipice. 



58 LETTERS ON THE 

On the shore, at the back of the town, you may 
find a subject in better taste. A high rocky point, 
with some old fortifications upon it, and a distant 
headland beyond. This, with a suitable bustle of 
boats and figures, might be worked up to a pleas- 
ing picture. 

STATION. 

Bring the foot of the contiguous rock on your 
right exactly under the square tower ; and let the 
headland appear just above the extremity of the 
cliff. (PL 2, Fig. 3.) 

St. Catharine's Isle is sometimes sketched. It 
is a mere rock, accessible at low water, but curious? 
I believe, from the almost perpendicular disposition 
of the strata; and a wide perforation, thirty or 
forty feet high, resembling a Gothic arch. 

A sail is recommended from Tenby harbour 
across Caermarthen bay, passing Monkstone head, 
and making either for Llaugharne point at the 
mouth of the Taw, or for Llan Stephan point at 



SCENERY OF WALES. 59 

the mouth of the Tovy. The distance may be 
sailed in one tide.* 

Rain, that bane of travellers, especially in our 
way, hindered me from seeing Manorbeer and Carew 
Castles; the former five, the latter eight miles 
from Tenby. Both of them may try your pencil. 
You will find a view of Manorbeer Castle in Sir R. 
Hoare's Work.f Of Carew the north-west side 
is preferred. Donovan mentions a British Cross at 
Carew, standing on the road side, close to the wall 
of the castle grounds.;]: Crosses are often highly 
picturesque, both as accompaniments, and single 
objects. Have you ever seen the collection in 
Britton's Architectural Antiquities ? they are very 
beautiful. 

I do not recommend my inn at Tenby — The 
Anchor. The Hotel would be preferable, if a 

* Malkin, p. 542. 

f Vol. i. p. 215. — Manorbeer Castle is supposed to have 
been built by one of the Norman chiefs in the time of Wil- 
liam Rufus. It was the birth-place of Giraldus de Barri. 
Malkin, p. 531. 

% Tour, vol. ii. p. 296. 



60 LETTERS ON THE 

threadbare, weather-stained pedestrian could ensure 
tolerable treatment; but the first rate inns are 
anglicizing fast. 

We must now go on toward Cardigan. Ten 
dreary miles of bad road bring you to Narbeth, a 
mean town, with as mean an inn — The White 
Hart. Here is a castle, of course : also a valley 
watered by the Cleddeu, and crowned with the 
towers of Lawhaden Castle, which is strongly re- 
commended, and a view given, in the Translation of 
Giraldus.* From Narbeth I struck across a tame 
intricate country, to meet the Haverfordwest turn- 
pike road near New Inn, sixteen miles from Car- 
digan ; stopping at a secluded little hamlet called 
Maencloghog — English ground quite, scattered 
over a green, like the villages of Suffolk and Nor- 
folk. Pembrokeshire is indeed described as the 
most level part of the principality, and both the 
people and general face of the country so nearly 
English, that it has been called Little England 
beyond Wales. 

* Vol. i. p. 186 ; and vol. ii. p. 378. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 61 

I was amused with the simplicity of the people 
at the inn here ; wondering that my friends should 
trust me so far from home on foot and alone ; and 
thinking how anxious they must be to hear of 
my safety. My eye-glass was a perfect novelty, 
which they handled and examined with as much 
care and curiosity, as the Brobdignagians did 
Gulliver. 

Here too I saw the most beautiful Cambrian in 
my tour. I notice this, because the Welch women, 
the lower classes at least, seemed not generally 
handsome, but short, clumsily formed, with round 
faces and small black eyes. Giraldus tells us, that 
in his time both sexes " exceeded any other nation 
in attention to their teeth, which they rendered like 
ivory by constantly rubbing them with green hazel 
and a woollen cloth." * Both the care and the 
custom, I fear, have ceased. The dress of the 
women, a blue cloak and man's black beaver hat, 
makes them good figures in a landscape ; though 
a red cloak would be better. In the paintings of 

* Trans, vol. il. p. 294-. 



62 LETTERS ON THE 

the old masters there is much red. The men are 
rather a diminutive race, but have sometimes keen 
intelligent countenances : their dress differs little 
from that of English peasants. 

At Cardigan you are in the neighbourhood of 
some interesting scenery; I therefore suggest a rea- 
sonable halt at the Black Lion. 

Yours, &c. 

P. S. A post-office is now established at Narbeth. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 63 



LETTER VIII. 

Cardiganshire is the most romantic county 
of South Wales. The northern boundary is scarcely 
to be distinguished from Montgomery and Meri- 
oneth, on which it borders. The scenes are large, 
wild, and grand ; and its high boast, the Devil's 
Bridge, will not shrink from a comparison with the 
finest in North Wales. There is not the ceaseless 
variety of Glamorganshire, and its beauties are often 
many a dreary mile apart ; but in one circumstance 
it particularly resembles that county ; in the pro- 
found sinking of the earth below the common 
level, which occasions those very steep and unex- 
pected precipices and dingles in the northern part 
of the district ; so that it may be said to abound 
there rather in gulfs than mountains. The beau- 
ties of Cardiganshire are but beginning to be 
known; few places are more confined within them- 



64 LETTERS ON THE 

selves ; and the slight intercourse with the adja- 
cent parts of North Wales is surprising. The ap- 
pearance of the cottages sometimes is miserable, 
built of mud, squalid and disgusting.* Even Car- 
digan, for a county town, is but mean, nor (when 
I travelled) Was the head inn a post-house ; post- 
chaises were then to be hired, I believe, only at 
Aberystwith and the Hafod Arms. 

The principal objects in Cardigan are the Bridge, 
Priory Church, and Ruins of the Castle ; and a 
cheerful general view of the town may be taken 
from a meadow on the right side of the Llechryd 
road, a short distance from the town ; a gate leads 
into it. 

STATION. 

Bring the intersection of the distant mountains 
just over the left hand arch of the bridge ; and let 
their outline touch the church tower at the height 
of the topmost window. (PI. 3. Fig. 1.) 

* Malkin, p. 318—322. 




U> a/ur-&^.iZ^L' cZ&nisO- 




7(st-C^eAA42. ?> ( r, , , /(r 




yc/atii-<*^ u*.j4£e.s 



SCENERY OF WALES. 65 

A little further to the left you catch the remains 
of the castle ; a station some like better on that 
account ; but it is an inconsiderable ruin. Your 
next and chief study will be Kilgerran Castle, and 
well it deserves all v the pains you can bestow. The 
best view is said fp be from the river, though ob- 
viously incomplete as a picture ; since it must want 
a foreground; and when the eye is so low, the 
margin of the river becomes straight, or its capes 
and headlands mere lines. The particular beauty 
of a view under such circumstances, Gilpin says, 
consists in the opposition between the straight 
boundary line of the water and the irregular 
outline of the objects on its banks.* If you go 
by land, your way is through the village of Llech- 
ryd; then keeping on the same side of the 
Tivy as the castle, you will presently see it 
crowning the brow of a naked rock which over- 
hangs the water; on the opposite side rises a steep 
wood; the river, winding between, unites these 
contrasted features, and gives variety and effect to 

* Northern Tour, vol. i. p. 102. 
F 



66 LETTERS ON THE 

the whole. First for a distant view, just before 
you come to an old lime-kiln. 

STATION. 

Bring the extremity of the woxl exactly under 
the round tower; and let the lowest turret, 
with a small part of the rock, appear above the 
wood. (PL 3, fig. 2.) 

For a nearer and bolder view, pass the castle, 
till you come to a wooded rock at the next bend 
of the river ; then look doxvn it. 

STATION. 

Bring the foot of the wooded rock just under 
the round tower ; and let the outline of the rock, 
next that which the castle stands upon, meet it at 
the bottom of the nun. (PL 3, Hg. 3.) 

You will, perhaps, give Kilgerran more atten- 
tion, when I tell you it was the favourite study of 
Wilson. Did vou ever meet with the engraving 



SCENERY OF WALES. 67 

by Elliot from his painting of it ? When such a 
man has chosen a station, who shall choose an- 
other ? He is said to have transferred a portrait of 
Kilgerran into more than one of his compositions ; 
but in those I have examined, the resemblance is 
very general. He seemed to delight certainly in 
giving his castles the situation of Kilgerran ; a 
taste probably acquired in Italy, where buildings 
are often placed upon heights. You know, I sup- 
pose, that Wilson (for the honour of the princi- 
pality) was a Welchman. 

The views beyond Kilgerran are not striking, 
so far as I explored; but the Tivy has another pic- 
turesque feature — the Coracles. They are a sort 
of Welch canoe, in shape well enough compared to 
half a walnut-shell; and are made of wicker, 
covered with hides or pitched canvas. They give 
character to the scenery ; fishermen, with them upon 
their heads, have the wild look of South Sea 
Islanders carrying their canoes ; but in the water 
their tub-like form brings to my mind Shakspeare's 
witch — " Thither in a sieve I'll sail." 

The village of Nevern should be visited On 
F 2 



68 LETTERS ON THE 

the south side of the church-yard is said to be a 
richly decorated cross.* The neighbourhood of 
Cardigan abounds with Druidical antiquities. The 
cromlech, or temple, at Pentre Evan is thought to 
surpass, in size and height, any in Wales, or 
indeed in England, Stonehenge and Arbury 
excepted. At Newport there is a smaller crom- 
lech ; and between that place and the sea-shore, is 
a very fine one, called Lech y drybed.f All these 
I missed for lack of information, but you should 
see them : cromlechs are not only curious, but 
sometimes handsome objects. 

We now proceed to Newcastle in Emlyn, about 
ten miles. The Kennarth salmon-leap I passed, 
and so may you, without a sketch. Newcastle is 
a poor place, but the remains of its castle, the 
Tivy winding almost round it, and a rich profusion 
of wood, make up some pretty spots. After Kil- 
gerran Castle will you condescend to draw this ? 
I took it from a meadow, where there is a fall of 
water under the castle hill. 

* Nicholson, p. 459. 

+ Girald. Camb. vol. ii. p. 44. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 69 



STATION. 



Let the trees on the opposite bank meet the 
wall of the castle ; and the outline of the distant 
mountain meet the castle hill at about a third of 
its whole length from the building. (PI. 4, fig. 2.) 

The inn here has, I believe, no sign, a circum- 
stance not unusual in Wales. But my accommo- 
dations were neat and civil. 

To Llanbeder are nineteen miles of very tame 
country. The town is small and uninteresting ; 
but it has one neat inn, the Black Lion, and also 
a post-office. From thence to Tregaron are eleven 
more, still flat and dreary, if you take the west 
side of the Tivy : some prefer the east, as far as 
Llandewi Brevi ; then crossing the river to Llanio- 
isau.* About two miles on your way, near the 
village of Llan Filian, stands one of those 
solitary stone pillars, so frequent in Wales, of 
which no one seems to know either the origin or 

* Girald. Camb. vol. ii. p. 382. 



70 LETTERS ON THE 

use.* It is in a field on the right side of the road ; 
and, as a good specimen of such antiquities, may be 
worth a sketch. Take the side which faces your 
left on entering the field.f Tregaron is a miser- 
able village of straggling thatched cottages; and 
though it has a church, wooden bridge, and moun- 
tainous back ground, I could find no station 
worth your trying. There are two poor public 
houses without signs. I got a decent bed at one 
of them, and you will probably procure little else 
except civility and eggs, but both of them cheap 
enough, the latter are sometimes even ten a penny ! 
The church is the only tolerable building, and 
much better than might be looked for in so 
secluded a place. When you reach Pentre Rhyd- 
vendiged4 do not forget to turn out of the road 

* The Editor of Camden mentions a similar one in this 
neighbourhood on the top of a mountain, but neither its date 
nor use. Edit. Gibson, p. 647. There is one between Brecon 
and Abergavenny, in a field near the road ; another on the 
heights above Rhayader : on this I observed a cross rudely 
carved. 

+ See Vignette. % The village of the blessed ford. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 71 

about a mile on the right, and look at the last 
remains of Ystrad Flur* (or Strata Florida) Abbey, 
one solitary Saxon arch, but of such rare beauty as 
will surely tempt your pencil. There is a public- 
house at the Rhydvendiged, where you can inquire 
your way to it. 

STATION. 

Let the interior of the arch begin to be visible 
halfway up the right side; and the outline of 
the distance meet the interior at the height of the 
circular ornament. 

The opposite side of the ruin is of no value. 
The body of the abbey has completely disappeared, 

* Ystrad Flur. The dale, or plain of Flur. The abbey 
was founded in 11 64, but to what order of monks it was 
devoted is not agreed upon by antiquaries. It was a depo- 
sitory of the records of the principality, and a place of inter- 
ment for many princes of South Wales. In the wars of 
Edward the First with the Welch, it was burnt down, but 
afterwards rebuilt, and remained till the dissolution of such 
establishments. Malkin, p. 3S2. 



72 LETTERS ON THE 

not a vestige remains ; * yet the very spot, con- 
nected as it is with history, is still an object of 
curiosity and importance to a thoughtful man. 

I do love these auncient ruynes ; 

We never tread upon them, but we set 

Our foot upon some reverend history. 

And questionless here, in this open court, 

(Which now lies naked to the injuries 

Of stormy weather,) some men lie interred, 

Loved the church so well, and gave so largely to it, 

They thought it should have canopied their bones 

Till doomsday : but all things have their end ; 



* Leland, speaking of this building, says, "the Chirch of 
Strata Flere is larg side ilid and crosse ilid. By is a large 
cloyster, the fratri and infirmitori be now mere ruines. The 
ccemeteri, wherein the counteri about doth buri, is very large 
and meanly walled with stone : In it be 39 great hew trees : 
the vase court or camp before the abbey is veri fair and 
large." See Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 67. The adjacent hills, 
now naked, were formerly covered with wood. " Many hills 
therabout (says Leland) hath been well wooded, as evidently 
by old rates appereth, but now in them is almost no wood." 
Ibid. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 73 

Churches and cities (which have diseases like to men) 
Must have like death that we have.* 

On the top of a mountain here, we are told of 
several pools, curious from their situation, which 
is the highest ground in Cardiganshire ; their con- 
taining fish; and some of them being supposed 
unfathomable.f 

The country now begins to take a wilder cha- 
racter, as you approach that wonderful scene, the 
Devil's Bridge. From Pentre Rhydvendiged the 
road winds over a barren mountain to the lonely 
hamlet of Yspytty Ystwith. This, and Yspytty 
r' Enwyn,^: are the ancient hospitia of the monks, 
who, when Strata Florida was in its splendour, 
stationed small detachments of their brethren at 
certain intervals, to protect and refresh the tra- 
veller, on his journey through this desolate track. J 

* Webster in his Duchess of Malfy. These admirable 
lines are chosen as a motto by Grose. 

f Malkin, p. 384. 

J The word Spytty is probably derived from Hospitium. 
Bingley, vol. i. p. 358. 

§ Malkin, p. 369. 



74 LETTERS ON THE 

You will be pleased with the bold scenery at 
the descent just beyond this village. On the left 
a precipice of tremendous depth, with the narrow 
Ystwitli foaming along the bottom ; on the right 
a range of lofty hanging woods, topped by the 
forked summits of the mountains above Pont ar 
Mynach. Crossing soon after a part of Hafod 
grounds, the road gradually ascends about three 
miles to the Hafod Arms, the inn near the Devil's 
Bridge. It was built by the late Mr. Johnes, the 
member for Cardigan, and well kept by his servant 
when I was there. The whole walk from Tregaron 
should be eighteen miles, but maps seem to blunder 
in this latter part of the road, and so probably 
will you, without very clear directions. How wel- 
come an accommodation, in this unpeopled region, 
would be a few guide-posts ! 

Yours, &c. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 75 



LETTER IX. 

Whether my route will take you through, 
or even near, the birth-place of Wilson, I really can- 
not tell you : I only know that it was somewhere in 
Montgomeryshire. His story is briefly this. He 
was born in 1714 : the son of a clergyman, who 
possessed a small benefice in that county, but 
afterwards collated to the living of Mould in 
Flintshire. At an early age Wilson showed a 
talent for drawing, and was sent to London, and 
placed under one Thomas Wright, an obscure 
portrait painter. To this branch of the art he 
devoted himself for several years, and gained con- 
siderable reputation; for about the year 1749, he 
painted a large portrait of his late Majesty, with 
his brother the Duke of York, for Dr. Hayter, 
Bishop of Norwich, their tutor. He afterwards 
went to Italy, still continuing to paint portraits, 
till the following circumstance showed him the 



76 LETTERS ON THE 

true bent of his genius. A small landscape, which 
he had painted with considerable freedom and 
spirit, chanced to meet the eye of Zucarelli, who 
was so pleased with the performance, that he 
strongly urged Wilson to follow that mode of 
painting, as most congenial to his powers. Venet, 
too, while he was at Rome, encouraged and re- 
commended him. It is not known when he re- 
turned to London : he was there in 1758, and his 
Niobe was in the first exhibition of the society of 
artists in 1760.* At the institution of the Royal 
Academy, Wilson was chosen one of the founders ; 
and after the death of Hayman, he solicited the 
place of Librarian, which he retained, till decay of 
health obliged him to retire to his brother's in 
Wales, where he died in May, 1782. 

You will thank me, I am sure, for adding 
Fuseli's masterly critique on his style. " Claude, 
little above mediocrity in all other branches of 

* This picture was afterwards bought by William, Duke 
of Cumberland, and is now in the possession of His Royal 
Highness the Duke of Gloucester. Edwards's Anecdotes of 
Painters, p. 78. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 77 

landscape painting, had one great prerogative, 
sublimity ; but his powers rose and set with the 
sun ; he could only be serenely sublime or ro- 
mantic. Wilson, without so great a feature, had 
a more varied and more proportionate power. He 
observed nature in all her appearances, and had a 
characteristic touch for all her forms. But though, 
in effects of dewy freshness and silent evening 
lights, few equalled, and fewer excelled him ; his 
grandeur is oftener allied to terror, bustle, and con- 
vulsion, than to calmness and tranquillity. Figures, 
it is difficult to say, which of the two introduced 
or handled with greater infelicity. Treated by 
Claude or Wilson, St. Ursula with her virgins, 
and iEneas landing, Niobe with her family, and 
Ceyx drawn ashore, have an equal claim to our 
indifference or mirth. Wilson is now numbered 
with the classics of the art, though little more 
than the fifth part of a century has elapsed since 
death relieved him from the apathy of the cognos- 
centi, the envy of rivals, and the neglect of a 
tasteless public. For Wilson, whose works will 
soon command prices as proud as those of Claude, 



78 LETTERS ON THE 

Poussin, or Elzheimer, resembled the last most in 
his fate ; lived and died nearer to indigence than 
ease ; and as an asylum from the severest wants 
incident to age and decay of powers, was reduced 
to solicit the Librarian's place, in the academy of 
which he was one of the brightest ornaments * 

It was this great painter who affirmed, that a 
young artist might find, in some part or other of 
this island, every thing he coidd attain by going 
abroad , r indeed that he could possibly want to 
complete his studies, excepting what is distinc- 
tively characterized as an Italian sky.f Wilson 
on his own art deserves to be heard, and his opi- 
nion may therefore give us new zeal to explore 
the scenery now before us, of the Devil's Bridge. 

For this too the situation of the inn itself prepares 

» 
us — perched, like an eagle's nest, on the top of the 

vast woody dingle, and overlooking the dizzy hol- 
low, with the Rhydoll roaring and tumbling down 
between the recks below. 

* M. Bryan's Biog. Diet, of Painters and Engravers, 
p. 610 ; Pilkington's Diet, of Painters, p. 619. Edit. Fuseli. 
f Malkin, p. 228. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 79 

This spot has been the subject of more able pens 
than mine : for a minute account, therefore, I refer 
you to Cumberland and Malkin. Our concern is 
picturesque points, which are of a high cast, and 
very deservedly admired. To begin then with the 
Bridge itself : * the circumstances which give it 
uncommon effect, are its double arch ; f the one 
built over the other, and the further variety of 
their shape and age, the upper being circular, the 
lower gothic. This effect is heightened by the 
depth of the chasm they bestride (if you would 
feel it, look over the parapet), the alternate preci- 
pices, the mountainous distance, and the luxuriancy 
of foliage with which the whole scene is finished. 

* Called also Pont ar Mynach, the bridge over the Mynach. 
Mynach, or Monach, is the Welch for Monk. The history of 
the bridge is understood to be this : The lower arch was thrown 
over the chasm by the monks of Ystrad Flur Abbey, about 
the year 1087. The present bridge was built over the ori- 
ginal one in 1753. Its height from the bed of the river is 
114 feet. Malkin, p. 365. 

+ The Abbey Bridge at Bury St. Edmunds is a beautiful 
instance, little known or noticed, of that rarity, an arch 
toithin an arch. 



80 LETTERS OX THE 

A bridge, if accessible, should be tried from four 
stations, on each side of the water, above and 
bcloxv. This, however, can be approached only 
from above. The view,* I prefer, is on the south- 
side of the Mynach. Turn into a field on the 
right, as you go from the inn to the bridge, and 
keep along the precipice. 

STATION. 

Let the distant mountain appear above the 
trees behind the bridge ; then bring its top over 
the arches. 

The view usually drawn is from the other side 
of the river, close below the bridge ; but to take it 
there, you must descend, till you have little choice 
of station, or even of footing, besides losing the 
fine distance. 

The falls of the Mynach are to be visited next* 

* The perpendicular depth of the four falls is 208 feet, 
without allowing for the declivity of the three pools. Malkin, 
p. 367. 

The greatest w aterfall in Europe is said to be that newly 



SCENERY OF WALES. 81 

About a hundred yards beyond the bridge, a path 
oil the left strikes into the wood, to a rocky pro- 
jection from whence they are seen at once : but 
lofty and magnificent as they are, they can hardly 
be drawn, being viewed from above, and the deep 
woody dell preventing any nearer approach. In 
summer too the supply of water is sometimes 
scanty, and then they are mere threads. A wet 
season, and waterfalls are in all their glory. 

A little further on, another path will lead you 
down the wood, by a steep and rather difficult 
descent, to the third wonder — the Fall of the 
Rhydoll, one of 

Those loftier scenes Salvator's soul adored. 

Rogers. 

This is seen from the back window at the inn, 

discovered in Lapland on the river Lulea, one eighth of a 
mile broad, and 4-00 feet perpendicular. Edinburgh Philos. 
Jour. No. 3, p. 199. The highest fall of water now known 
is the Rogfossen, or Smoke Waterfall, in Upper Telemark, 
Norway, 970 feet perpendicular ; as lately ascertained by 
Esmark, Mineralogical Professor at Christiana. A painting 
of it, taken on the spot by W. White, was exhibited at So- 
merset-house in 1819. 

G 



82 LETTERS ON THE 

but how changed ! the height of the precipices, 
the gloom of their shadows, the roar of the fall, 
the confusion of rocky fragments, the age of the 
trees, all form together a scene that fills the mind 
with pleasing breathless wonder. Instead of a 
near station, I chose one where you will reach the 
bottom of the dingle. 

STATION. 

Behind some mass of stone, to the left of which 
is seen the torrent descending from the fall : let 
the stone hide the intermediate distance from the 
fall. 

This station seems to include all the features, 
of which the enormous blocks of stone composing 
the foreground is a very bold and peculiar one. 

The view looking down the Rhydoll wears an 
opposite character of calm grandeur ; but freedoms 
must be used to make a good picture of it. There 
is a want of contrast ; the two side screens meet at 
a formal angle ; and both of them, with the hill in 
front, are covered with wood : besides, the huge 




BJB. VeweU del 



o, 






SCENERY OF WALES. 83 

stones in the foreground must be put in better 
order. The whole spot is a storehouse of materials 
for landscape — falling water, pieces of rock, masses 
of stone, stumps, old trees, &c. An artist of taste 
and talent told me, he was down there seven hours 
without quitting the place. 

Unfrequented scenes are seldom without some 
marvellous story. When at Aberystwith, I chanced 
to mention the fall of the Rhydoll to an old lady, 
who asked me, if I had seen the wonderful stone 
there ? What stone ? Why, one on which, as she 
had heard, there were words written, which no 
man could read ! * 

You, whose taste is alive to sounds as well as 
sights, will be pleased with the reverberation of this 
water-fall's incessant flow, when at some distance 
from it ; echoing up the dingle, and swelling at 
intervals upon the ear, like that mysterious roar 
of the sea upon a hollow shore, which sometimes 
precedes a storm. Heard during the stillness of 
night it is strangely solemn. 

* She was a Wesleyan Methodist. 
G 2 



84 LETTERS ON THE 

The Robbers' Cave, near the lowest fall of the 
Mynach, is your fourth object. Tradition says, 
it was for years the hiding place of two brothers 
and a sister, who infested the neighbourhood as 
plunderers.* I know of nothing curious in the 
cave itself, but by going down, you may see the 
falls in succession. The second, which descends 
in one broad decided sheet of sixty feet, should be 
sketched. Turn a little to the right, just before 
you reach it, to a projecting rock which overlooks 
the chasm. An oak stump and two graceful 
birches mark the spot. 

STATION. 

Let the nearer birch cross the fall at a quarter 
of the way down it : then approach the brink close 
enough to see the bottom. 

The beautiful effect of this fall depends (as 
many others do) on its accompaniments ; detached 
from these, its simplicity would be unmeaning. 

* Malkin, p. 368. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 85 

One wonder yet remains, the delight of my 
eyes, and the perfection of the whole — the Parson's 
Foot-bridge ; a scene sublime, and even horrible, 
but capable of being wrought into a noble picture. 
Yet it is rarely drawn or seen, perhaps from the 
difficulty of getting at it. I have met with but 
one view* It is on the Rhydoll, but further up. 
There are two ways down to it ; either through 
Yspytty r' Enwyn church-yard, or by climbing the 
precipice from the foot of the Rhydoll, and so 
descending at the place on the opposite side, from 
which alone it can be drawn. Both are difficult, 
yet both, I thought, overpaid me : a guide, how- 
ever, is adviseable. Fearful it is to stand upon 
the giddy footing of the plank across the chasm, 
and mark the wild grandeur of the scenery. The 
whirling torrent, the fantastic rocks, scooped into 
hollows of unknown depth, the barren steep, the 
gloomy wood, the spiry mountain tops, — while the 
hollow rush of the water heard at intervals, adds 

* An elaborate one, by Glover, in the water-colour Exhi- 
bition of 1808, No. 194. 



86 LETTERS ON THE 

solemnity to the whole. Would you believe that 
the Parson's Bridge has its name from being the 
common footway for the villagers to Yspytty 
church?* While drawing there, I saw two chil- 
dren trip over with as much unconcern as we 
should cross a room. 

A good station here requires care : I tried three, 
but like the following best — below the bridge. 

STATION. 

So far behind the ridgy rock, on which the 
bridge rests, as to see three nooks of the river above 
it: move till you lose sight of the post at the 
right end of the bridge. 

The wildness and craggy sublimity of this scene 
will be best represented on a large scale ; if on a 

* Malkin calls this bridge Pont Hervoid (p. 370). And I 
might be mistaken in my direction to a bridge so named, 
about three miles off, a little to the left of the Llanidloes 
road. If Pont Herwid be the same as Pont Hir Ryd, it is 
Long Ford Bridge. Foot bridges in Welch are called Pont- 
bren. Offeiriad is a Parson 




'Sutherland sculp? 



_ // /- y r/i,j c y£, / v/?f/r 



SCENERY OF WALES. 87 

small one, and you would produce a quiet effect, 
let the light be chiefly on the water, and in the 
sky ; the other parts being kept down. 

The rocks here deserve your notice, so curious 
and uncommon: some of them excavated into 
deep cylindrical pools, others ridged, and formed as 
it were of concentric layers : what say the geo- 
logists to this? 

These, I believe, are the principal attractions 
for your pencil in this romantic region. But it 
should be explored in every direction, and its 
varying appearances watched. A friend tells 
me of a mill and water-fall some way down the 
Rhydoll : Malkin mentions one,* and also a 
foot-bridge at the bottom of one of the dingles, 
down which you turn to the right from the 
Aberystwith road. Some of the mountains are 
finely shaped, pointed, and almost square-topped. 
Clouds often descend very low, and as they 
roll, or rest upon the mountains, produce remark- 
able effects. The general defects too in the views 
here should not pass unnoticed nor untold. They 

* South Wales, p. 370. 



88 LETTERS ON THE 

are, I think, chiefly these ; a heavy angular forma- 
lity, a confined sameness, and a monotony of co- 
louring and surface : the two former occasioned by 
the almost perpendicular steeps folding in one 
upon another through the whole dingle ; the latter 
by the woods with which their sides are so gene- 
rally clothed. 

Perhaps you will visit Hafod House and grounds * 
I saw little of them, and therefore refer you again 
to the ample descriptions of Cumberland and 
Malkin. 

If this minute letter tire you, yet the subject, 
I think, will not. Twice have I staid amidst these 
terrible beauties, and each time took of them, as I 
predict you will, a very unwilling farewell. They 
have left a more vivid impression on my fancy, 
than any I have seen before or since : and among 
many sketches, made in many tours, I have none 
that I prize so highly, or still study with such 
pleasure, as those on this justly celebrated spot. 

Yours, &c. 

* Hafod or Havod, in English the Farm or Summer-house. 



SCENEUY OF WALES. 89 



LETTER X. 

Should you alter your plan, and make 
South Wales a separate tour, I would recommend 
a route eastward from the Devil's Bridge, through 
Rhayader, Bualt, and Brecon. Let me try in this 
letter if I can tempt you. 

The walk to Rhayader is about seventeen miles, 
wild and barren, but more interesting, I thought, 
than from it. About two miles on the way, is 
Pentre Brunant Inn; a very mean road-side house, 
near which, when coming in the opposite direction, 
I turned off to the left, and fetched a circuit to 
the Devil's Bridge, by a road passing Hafod House, 
and through part of the grounds. Many persons, 
who come from Rhayader with post horses, and 
wish to see Hafod, leave them here, and take this 
road. 

The mountainous perspective, as you approach 



90 LETTERS ON THE 

Cwm Ystwith* lead mines, is a good subject for 
broad effect : the winding road, and miners' huts, 
with their wreath of smoke, giving it variety and 
character. 

STATION. 

Bring the nearest reach of road exactly over 
that which you stand upon. Ascend, till you see 
two reaches of the road beyond the ascent. 

The heights above Rhayader Gwy j- command 
a spacious prospect of the Radnorshire mountains ; 
the Wye to the left, on the right Cwm Eland and 
Llyn Gwyn. Just out of the road here, on the 

* The vale of the springing river. Cwm, a glen or hollow, 
pronounced Coom. W is a vowel in Welch, and has the 
power of our oo in soon. Bingley, North Wales, vol. ii. p. 297. 

f The fall of the Wye. Rhayader is a cataract. Wye or 
Gwy, though here the name of a river, seems anciently to 
have been the appellation either for river or water. Hence 
the names of many Welch rivers become intelligible. Llugwy, 
clear water, from Hugh, light ; Dowrdwy, loud water, from 
duraah, noise ; Edwy, swift stream, from ehed, to fly. Camden, 
Edit. Gibson, p. 587. Llyn Gwyn is the white lake. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 91 

left, stands a solitary stone pillar, like that near 
Llanbeder. Rhayader is a mean, irregular little 
town. There are two inns, the Royal Oak* and 
Red Lion ;* I found the latter the better of the 
two. The south side of the bridge is handsome, 
but the fall of the Wye just below it, the most 
beautiful feature in the view, is now destroyed by 
a manufacture on the banks there. Laporte's 
sketch, in Malkin's work, is faithful and well chosen. 
Cwm Eland, the subject of Bowles's neat little 
poem, seems picturesque in description, and may 
be worth trying ; the foot bridge, for instance : 

— Lo ! the footway plank, that leads across 
The narrow torrent foaming through the chasm 
Below ; the rugged stones are wash'd, and worn 
Into a thousand shapes. 

And the cataract of Nant Vola: 

* There is a mistake in Warner's book about the inn here. 
There was no such inn as the Angel when he travelled : he 
was at the Red Lion, as the landlord himself told me. See 
Warner's First Walk, p. 57, 4th edit, and Second Walk, 
p. 139, 2d edit. 



92 LETTERS ON THE 

Dark trees, that to the mountain's top ascend, 
O'ershade with pendent boughs its mossy course : 
And looking up, the eye beholds it flash 
Beneath th' incumbent.gloom, from ledge to ledge 
Shooting its silver foam, and far within 
Wreathing its curve fantastic. 

Few of our poets are landscape painters ; I 
mean, that the scenes which they have " painted 
in syllables," are seldom transferrable to the canvass, 
at least without taking liberties with them. One 
sometimes meets with clever hints, or spirited 
touches, but rarely with a complete picture. They 
seem to describe without attention to the principles 
of the art. Shakspcare has few : natural descrip- 
tion, indeed, was neither his object, nor his excel- 
lence. His Dover cliff, though purely descriptive, 
cannot, for an obvious reason, be painted from his 
representation. A scene which I most admire, is 
that in As You Like It, where Jacques moralizes 
on the wounded deer.* Milton's descriptions of 



* Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out 
Upon the brook that brawls along the wood, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 93 

Paradise, as has been well deserved, have " little of 
the freshness of nature in them." His evening 
scene, in the fourth book, is surely no picture, 
much of it appealing to the ear, rather than the 
eye. In the Allegro and Penseroso are a few 
beautiful sketches, and more correct, being pro- 
bably copied from nature. Hence also the distinct- 
ness and individuality which mark some of the 
landscapes of Goldsmith, Cowper, and Hurdis. 
Pope, who had some skill in drawing, has availed 
himself but little of it, even where he had such 
fair opportunity, in his Pastorals, and Windsor 
Forest ; in the latter the composition is decidedly 
faulty. Thomson succeeded best, I think, in 
painting animal life ; though his waterfall is a 
masterly, well-finished piece. But we are wander- 
ing strangely from Rhayader Gwy, and must re- 



A poor sequesterM stag, 

That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt, 

Did come to languish Anon a fearless herd, 

Full of rich pasture, bounding comes along, 
And never stays to greet him. Act ii. Sc. 1. 



94 LETTERS ON THE 

turn. At one of the two churches there I saw a 
pleasing Welch custom, like that of decorating 
graves with flowers. An infant daughter of one 
of the inhabitants had been buried in the church 
a few days before, and the pews of the family, 
relations, and servants, were all adorned in this 
way. They have another singular custom in Rad- 
norshire ; that of dancing in the church-yards at 
feasts and revels ; though not exactly over the 
graves of their fore-fathers ; the amusement being 
always on the north side of the church. 

Your next stage is to Bualt, sixteen miles south 
of Rhayader. I recollect nothing worth your 
notice in it ; even the Wye, which accompanies 
you much of the way, is as yet but a petty stream. 
Radnorshire, generally considered, is the least in- 
teresting to the landscape painter of all the Welch 
counties. The east side is a fine and beautiful 
country, but without local objects of decided cha- 
racter. The north-west corner, bordering upon 
Montgomery and Cardigan, partakes of their gran- 
deur. But there are two or three detached scenes 



SCENERY OF WALES. 95 

very striking. Cwm Eland, the Vale of Edwy, 
and the dingle of the Matchway* The last of 
these I mention on the authority of Malkin, for I 
tried in vain to find it. He speaks of it as a most 
wild and savage spot, with a tradition equally so 
attached to it — of an ancient prince who had a 
castle there, and used to gratify his ferocious spirit 
by hurling his prisoners from the top of the rock 
into a dismal pool below. Aber Edwy you must 
go and see, while at Bualt, and draw the water- 
mill there. Malkin has inserted in his work an 
excellent sketch of it by Laporte. The whole spot 
is exceedingly romantic, and well worth the walk ; 
about three miles. Take it from the bank belozv 
the wooden bridge. 

STATION. 

Bring the top of the mill-wheel exactly under 
the further slant line of the mill, and let the out- 
line of the first distant hill meet the roof. 

* He describes it as on the left of the road from Bualt to 
Hay, where the Cletur and Matchway enter the Wye in 
opposite directions. P. 273. 

6 



96 LETTERS ON THE 

The rocks on the other side of the river arc 
bold and lofty, as far as its confluence with the 
Wye. 

T. Jones, the landscape painter, was a native of 
this village ; the younger son of a gentleman who 
possessed a small estate near it. He was educated 
for the church ; but, from change of circumstances, 
he became a pupil to Wilson ; and, after the usual 
visit to Italy, practised several years in London. 
On the death of his brother, he came into posses- 
sion of the family estate, to which he retired, and 
resided there till his decease, in May, 1803.* 

Bualt is agreeably situate on the banks of the 
Wye, but with nothing to distinguish it from the 
generality of Welch towns. The head inn is. the 
Royal Oak. Your pencil may rest the next six- 
teen miles to Brecon ; there it should be busy 
again. The character of Brecknockshire is strongly 
marked by a mixture of sublimity and cultivation. 
It is distinguished from Glamorganshire by more 
level and extensive valleys, and more continuous 

* Malkin, p. 282. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 97 

and lofty mountain tracts ; neither are the changes 
of scene so sudden, unexpected, and frequent. Its 
woods, though large, are not general, but the 
banks of the principal rivers are luxuriantly 
clothed. Brecknock is a very romantic place : " I 
have seen few places," says Gilpin, " where a land- 
scape painter might get a collection of better 
ideas."* The banks of the Honddyf are rich 
and beantiful, and the castle and priory venerable 
ruins. The east end and tower of the latter may 
be well taken, looking both north and south. To 
find the station looking north, trace the Honddy 
upward to a bridge. 

* Observations on the Wye, p. 51. 

f The clear black water. Brecknock is called also Aber- 
honddy, from the confluence of the Uske and the Honddy. 
Its British name, Breycheinog, is from, Prince Brechanius, as 
the Welch suppose. Camden, Edit. Gibson, p. 590. 

Both the priories were founded by Barnard Newmarch, 
who also built the castle. The one is now a parish church, 
but still called the Priory. The other was converted into a 
college by Henry the Eighth. It appears much neglected, 
and contains nothing remarkable in architecture or an- 
tiquity. Malkin, p. 219. 
I 

H 



98 LETTERS ON THE 

STATION. 

On the bridge. Bring the east end of the 
priory j ust over the chimney of the first bnilding, 
counting to the left. 

The principal attraction here is a beautifully 
rippling fall of the river overhung with majestic 
trees. For a station looking south, you must cross 
the Honddy, and climb the bank. 

STATION. 

Let the top of the mountain be a little to the 
left of the priory, and as high as the nearer 
buttress. 

If you cross the bridge over the Uske, south of 
the town, and turn immediately to the right , a 
bridge faces you, backed by the castle* — another 

* Part of the keep still remains. The main body of the 
citadel, and all the parts, are yet to be traced ; and a tower, 
which perpetuates in some degree the idea of what the whole 
once was, is shown, as the place where Dr. Morton was 



"£?■ 



Fl.V. 




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^2) &-£6>-cl-c£c(Asvts <iJo-tc^e^ 



SCENERY OF WALES. 99 

simple, pleasing subject, though, like the two 
former, not perhaps quite Welch enough. 

STATION. 

At the water's edge. Let the distant church 
tower be exactly over the right-hand arch. 
(PL 5, fig. 1.) 

The best inns at Brecon are said to be the 
Golden Lion and the Swan : I do not recommend 
mine. 

The country from Brecon to the New Passage, 
through Abergavenny, Monmouth, Trellecks, Tin- 
tern, and Chepstow, is beautiful, and will afford 
you many fine pictures. About four miles and a 
half from Abergavenny, a small brook across the 
road divides (as a stone there tells us) Monmouth 
from Brecon. Here then we take our farewell of 
Wales : but not yet must you put up your pencil. 

confined by Richard the Third, and planned, in concert with 
his disappointed keeper, the union of the two houses, and the 
succession of Henry the Seventh. Malkin, p. 218. 

H 2 



100 I.ETTEIiS ON THE 

While at Abergavenny, spare a day, if possible, 
for Llanthoni Abbey. I could not, but it well 
deserves a visit. Five engravings of it are given 
in Coxe's Tour. Since that publication the abbey 
is much dilapidated, but still, " amidst its ruins, 
it will supply the artist with many fine subjects 
for his pencil, and furnish ample matter for in- 
quiry and investigation to the architect and anti- 
quary.* Some draw Abergavenny church backed 
by mountains ; but I saw nothing remarkable 
about it, except that it was cruciform. The castle 
is a pile of naked staring ruins. 

My inn there was the Golden Lion, but I was 
very reluctantly accommodated, in consequence, it 
seemed, of a disturbance in the town occasioned by 
some young tourists on a fishing excursion, and to 
whose party I was suspected to belong. May not 
the uncivil treatment which tourists complain of 
receiving from the Welch, be sometimes the con- 
sequence of insult that has been offered them ? 
For instance now ; two pedestrians overtook, near 

* Trans. Girald. Cambr. vol. i. p. 85. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 101 

the Devil's Bridge, two Welch women ; the young 
men's knapsacks caught their artless curiosity; 
one was opened; and these gentlemen then in- 
sisted upon examining their bundles, the contents 
of which they scattered about the road. This was 
related to me by one of them as an excellent 
adventure. 

If you wish to ascend any of the mountains 
near Abergavenny, Coxe will tell you, that the 
view from Skyrrid is the finest, though the Sugar- 
loaf is the highest ground in Monmouthshire. 
Ragland Castle, about five miles from Monmouth, 
should be looked at ; it is a large and noble ruin, 
and many draw it — I did not. There is a neat 
inn at the village of Ragland, two miles to your 
right. At Monmouth the principal objects worth 
seeing are, the remains of the priory, the church of 
St. Thomas, and the bridge over the Monnow: 
the last of these is sometimes drawn. I was at 
the Angel there, but the chief inns are the Beau- 
fort Arms, and King's Head. 

Tintern Abbey is beyond praise.* The best 

* Tintern Abbey was founded and dedicated to St. Mary, 



102! LETTERS ON THE 

views are of the interior, and I know not a finer 
than from the right hand comer soon after you 
enter the western door. Seen in front, or from 
the river, it is deformed and encumbered. I 
have known the south window selected as a 
study. 

There is a wire-drawing manufactory at Tin- 
tern, which is well worth your attention. 

Chepstow Castle occupies much ground, and ap- 
peared to me not easily to be combined ; but some 
parts, as Harry Martin's tower, may be taken, and 
the whole is sometimes sketched, with part of the 
view from Wynd Cliff,* though, in my judgment, 
from too high a point. The singular and un- 
bounded view from thence, I was assured, exhibits 
at once all that Piercefield grounds give in detail, 
and therefore I did not go over them. Your inn 
at Chepstow is the Beaufort Arms. 

by Walter de Clare, in 1131, for Cistertlan monks, and sup- 
pressed at the dissolution, and the site granted to Henry, 
Earl of Worcester, the ancestor of the Duke of Beaufort, to 
whom it now belongs. Coxe, Abr. p. 150. 
* Supposed a corruption of Wye Cliff. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 103 

About five miles more will bring you to our 
starting point, the New Passage ; and thus the 
circle being completed, we may now resume our 
travels northward from the Devil's Bridge. 

I'ours, &c. 



104 LETTEHS ON THE 



LETTER XI. 

I had thought of proceeding to Machynl- 
laeth * across Plynlimmon ; but found, on inquiry, 
no encouragement to make the attempt. The road 
is barren and dreary, the character of the moun- 
tain heavy and sullen, the ascent, without a guide 
(not always procurable), dangerous from its many 
springs,! and the height far exceeded by Snowdon 
and Cader Idris. I therefore took the turnpike- 
road to Aberystwith, about eleven miles : but there 

* The place near the river Cynllaeth, which was the ancient 
name of the Dovey. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 49. It is pronounced 
Mahunkleth. 

\ Plynlimmon, so named from Penlummon, the summit 
of the beacon, is the source of three noted rivers, the Rhydoll, 
Wye, and Severn, The Rhydoll flows south-west into the 
sea at Aberystwith : the Wye south-east, and after watering 
Radnor, Brecon, and Monmouth, falls into the Severn below 
Chepstow : the Severn north-east to Shrewsbury, then south, 
waters Salop, Worcester, and Gloucester, emptying itself 
into the sea below Bristol. Nicholson, p. 331. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 105 

is a more interesting one, I believe, that skirts the 
banks of the Rhydoll,* and this would give you an 
opportunity of seeing the water-mill I mentioned, 
with Llanbadarn Vawr, which may also afford a 
sketch. There is said to be a richly decorated old 
cross in the church-yard.f 

Aberystwith looks best at a distance, and may 
be well sketched from the Machynllaeth road ; but 
some liberties, I doubt, must be taken. A town 
faithfully represented is seldom picturesque ; some- 
thing is wrong in the general outline : or if in 
shade, the chimneys displease ; they are too many 
or too few, too short or too long ; and if again in 
light, the artist must be allowed to put in just so 
many doors and windows as it will bear. 

When near, the houses of grey stone with 
whitened roofs give Aberystwith a gloomy appear- 
ance. The ruins of the castle are too ruinous for 
the pencil ; now only one lofty tower. The chain 
of mountains, on the north side of the bay, forms a 

* Malkin, p. 370. 
t Nicholson, p. 380. 



106 LETTERS ON THE 

most noble and extensive distance. Aberystwith 
is much frequented in the bathing season, and 
there is then a public boarding table at the Talbot, 
the principal inn. 

From hence to Machynllaeth, by Trevy Ddol,* 
where I procured a decent bed, the distance may 
be about eighteen or twenty miles: a road not 
often taken, I believe, nor at all to be recom- 
mended. There is one fine view from the hill, 
about three miles above the town, wide and diver- 
sified, and well seen under an early morning sun. 
Machynllaeth differs little from other Welch 
towns, and contains no object of note. If you stop 
there, go to the Unicorn Inn. 

Quitting Machynllaeth, you cross the Dovey, 
and enter Merionethshire, with little reason to 
regret not seeing more of Montgomeryshire ; for it 
is the least picturesque of the northern counties. 
The neighbourhood of Llanidloes affords some sub- 

* The totun of the dale. Dd, or as it is sometimes 
written, dh, is an aspirated d, and the sound nearly of th in 
the word this. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 297, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 107 

jects for the pencil ; and one of the Breidden 
mountains, the highest conical, called Moel y 
Golfa, is often studied : but the mountains are in 
general not lofty, and sometimes green to their 
tops ; while the lower grounds abound with culti- 
vation and manufactures. Flannel is chiefly the 
produce of Montgomeryshire ; hence the loom is 
often heard, tenter-grounds and fulling-mills make 
their appearance, and the houses and villages have 
an air of English comfort.* 

The next fourteen miles to Dolgelle f is a walk 
of wonderful sublimity. Wyndham compares it 
even to Switzerland, and says, " It forms a minia- 
ture picture of the romantic road between Aigues 
Belles and Mount Cenis."^: If possible, reserve 
this walk, as far at least as Tal y Llyn, for an 
evening ; the best time to observe the full effect of 
light and shade on such stupendous rock, and 

* Aikin's Tour, p. 38. 

f The holme of the groves ; pronounced nearly Dolgethle. 
LI is an asperated I, having much the sound ofthl. Bingley, 
vol. ii. p. 297. 

J Welch Tour Abr. p. 113. 



108 LETTERS ON THE 

wood, and mountain scenery. The profound 
silence too of these sequestered spots, which always 
strikes a solitary stranger, is then most striking. 
Four miles from Machynllaeth is a singular fall on 
the Dyfflos, to the left of the road, near the mill ; 
a good study with the oaks above, and distant hill: 
your ear will guide you to it, if you know the 
deep, subterranean sound of waterfalls, so entirely 
unlike any other. About three miles further, I 
have a station for you ; a simple, but grand spe- 
cimen of mountain solitude, rendered even more 
solitary by the appearance of one cottage, a little 
way out of the road to the left, and which marks 
the spot. You look north-west, toward Dolgelle, 
part of Cader Idris filling up the distance. 

STATION. 

In the road. Bring the peak of the mountain 
next to Cader Idris exactly over the gable end of 
the cottage. 

Hereabouts you will pass on the left a magni- 
ficent hanging wood, towering aloft, far almost as 



SCENERY OF WALES. 109 

the eye can reach, and greatly surpassing the finest 
you have seen in Somerset or Devon. Viewed in 
perspective, and with a favourable light, you will 
do well to observe, how its surface is cut out into 
varied masses by the indented courses of the trees; 
but drawn, as I have seen it, with the cottages 
beneath, just from that point where the road winds 
to the right, it is little more than an elevation. 

For several miles now the southern base of Cader 
Idris * forms a dark, solemn back ground to the 
view. Do not halt at the Blue Lion ; it is figured 
in some maps, but is only a poor ale-house ; there 
are better accommodations at Tal y Llan,f and the 
little lake itself is worth a visit. It is about three 
miles round, encircled with sloping mountains, a 

* The seat of Idris. Tradition makes Idris an enormous 
giant. He is supposed to have been a prince of these parts ; 
but the period is so remote, that little more than his name 
and talents are now to be ascertained. In the old Bardic 
writings he is said to have been a poet, astronomer, and 
philosopher. He is sometimes called Cawr Idris, or King 
Idris , Cawr being an old Welch word for king. Bingley, 
vol. ii. p. 44. 

f The head of the pool, or lake. 



110 LETTERS ON THE 

scene of calm, retiring, peaceful beauty ; but, as a 
picture, it seemed to want objects, and if drawn, 
it must owe its effect to some peculiar manage- 
ment — a gleam of light on the centre of the water 
— a sunset, or the like. While there, go and see 
the Craig y Deryn :* the walk will repay you ; it 
is about four miles. My guide and I took it early 
after sun-rise, and I would recommend you to do 
the same, that you may catch some of the sublime 
effects of "morning spread upon the mountains." 
Our road, for some way, ran along a precipice, over- 
looking a narrow lonely valley, the very original, 
one might fancy, of Du Barta's placid picture — 
intersected by a rapid, shallow stream, with here 
and there a patch of corn, or pasture, a mill and a 
cottage, whose simple owner, 

Leading all his life at home in peace, 
Always in sight of his own smoke ; no seas, 
No other seas he knows, no other torrent 
Than that which waters with its silver current 
His native meadows ; and that very earth 
Shall give him burial, which first gave him birth. 

Du Barta, W. 1. D.3. 
* Craig y Deryn is the rock of birds. 



SCENERY OF WALES. Ill 

From its opposite side the mountains rose in all 
that beautiful variety of colouring and surface, so 
remarkable in this part of Wales. Upon the 
heights the straining eye discerned a few adven- 
turous sheep; higher up, the blue smoke ascending 
from some shepherd's hut ; while higher even yet 
the summits were lost in clouds. Further on, we 
passed the woody eminence where once stood the 
castle of Trev Seri, though now the very place 
thereof knows it no more. The road, then gra- 
dually descending, spread upon an extensive flat of 
coarse pasturage, bounded by mountains, with the 
Craig y Deryn towering in naked grandeur on our 
left. You must draw it in distant perspective, 
and then it is a simple, but bold, and uncommon 
subject. My station was near a turn of the road 
to the right, where there are two buildings within 
the stone fence. 

STATION. 

Let the two summits of the Craig be distinctly 
detached from each other, and the outline of the 
declivity be just above the buildings. 
6 



112 LETTERS ON THE 

This piece may be strongly represented under 
the effect of a transient gleam before a storm, 
by throwing the whole rock into shade ; or 
yet more strongly in a storm, with a wild bird or 
two to give it character, just catching the light, as 
they rise against a murky cloud. 

Viewed in front, the Craig is a curious object, 
shooting up two hundred feet from a declivity 
covered with a stream of enormous stones, and at 
the height of seven hundred feet from the base. 
It projects considerably, and is haunted by a cloud 
of corvorants, rock-pigeons, hawks, and other birds, 
filling the air with their wild cries, when their 
solitude is disturbed. The guides have always 
something strange to tell at every strange place. 
Here was a wild story of a little boy clambering 
over the craig from behind, after birds' eggs, so far 
down, that he could not get up again, and remain- 
ing there two or three days, till a sportsman, dis- 
cerning some unusual object moving about among 
the birds, discovered by his glass what it was, and 
had him drawn up. 

In Jones's Relicks of Welch bards are some 



SCENERY OF WALES. 113 

simple stanzas, descriptive of this singular spot, of 
which, for your amusement, I send you a literal 
translation.* 

" Brynn yr Aderyn is a lofty eminence, 

The most healthy place under heaven : 

The rocks were formerly fortified 
i 

For soldiers in the wars. 

Sometimes the birds make their nests there, 
And warble most sweetly ; 



* I am indebted for this translation to Thomas Jones, Esq. 
to whom not being personally known, I beg to make this 
acknowledgement. The original stanzas were written by the 
late Rev. Evan Evans, in 1773; and to amuse the Welch 
scholar I subjoin them. 

Brynn yr Aderyn ar diroedd, uchel 
Jachv man dan 'Nevoedd 
Caer * gynt yn y creigiau oedd, 
I vilwyr mewn rhyveloed. 

Maen' weithian yma' n nythu, man Adar 
Mwyn ydynt yn canu ; 

* Upon Bryn y Penmaen, close by Llanvihangel y Pennant, in the 
hundred Ysturn-aner, formerly stood Castell Trev Seri. 

I 



114 LETTERS ON THE 

Their melodious voices are heard 
Singing most pleasantly. 

The crow is seen on the top of the rock, 

And in the proper season, 

Joining in the song and chorus, 

The whole being most mild and musical. 

The larks also rise above the hills, 
Singing in harmony constantly ; 
They sing in scientific notes, 
Always at the dawn of day. 



Clywir lais y claiar lu, 
In diddan gyhydeddu. 

MaeV Vran, ar aran ar Oror, y graig 
Yn groyw yn eu tymmor ; 
Unan' yn y gan in' gor, 
Penaidd eu llais pob puror. 

Hedyddion mwynion uwch mynydd seiniant 

Yn gyssonawl beunydd ; 

Wi ! 'or sain goelvain gelvydd, 

Mwyn yw y do'n ym min dydd. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 115 

Hark ! the choice and pleasing metres 
Of the little birds on the rock ! 
Their short notes and sweet sounds 
Will puzzle the best singer to match them. 

Music is pleasing to man ; 
And 'tis natural to sing with the harp ; 
But there is more ease and sweetness 
In the vocal strains of Craig Aderyn. 

An excursion from Tal y Llyn to Dolgelle over 
Cader Idris, is said to be difficult and laborious, 
and practicable only on foot, but exceedingly in- 
teresting. I met an artist at Dolgelle, who showed 
me some sketches made from the recesses of the 

Clywch ddethol siriol vesurau, mwyn ydynt 

Man Adar y Creigiau ; 

Eu hacan vry 'au ca'n vrau, 

Pencoedd nis gwyr eu pynciau. 

Miwsig sydd ddiddig i ddyn, naturiol 
Yw Cantorion Telyn ; 
Melysach, rhwyddach ar h^n 
Yw d' araith, Grai-g Aderyn. 
I 2 



116 LETTERS ON THE 

mountain, strikingly wild and uncommon ; and you 
have probably seen Wilson's fine view of Cader 
Idris, taken from that part called Llyn y Cae * 

The regular road passes over the foot of Cader 
Idris: some industrious artists stop to draw the 
Lake of Three Grains, a small pool by the road 
side, with three masses of rock lying near it : the 
giant Idris, they tell you, shook them out of his 
shoe, when he stopped to drink there. The shaggy 
head of the mountain rising into the clouds, is a 
bold object on your left the remainder of the way : 
and about a mile from Dolgelle, looking westward, 
near a turn of the road to the right, you may 
make a pleasing drawing of the town. The out- 
line of the mountains behind it is correct, their 
forms well contrasted, and the bridge, buildings, 
river, and winding road, may all be nicely con- 
nected. The triple head of Cader Idris, and the 
prison, a large building left of the town, will be 
your marks. 

* The inclosed pool. It was engraved, I believe, by Rooker. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 117 

STATION. 

Bring the church tower under the middle head 
of the mountain ; and let the prison be rather 
above the wood adjacent to it. 

You must fill up the marsh which forms the 
right side of the picture : — perhaps some cattle, or 
a fog, may help you. 

Your inn at Dolgelle is the Golden Lion, and / 
found it comfortable. Chaise and post horses may 
be hired there : the charge is much the same in 
Wales as in England, but not the rate of travel- 
ling ; forty miles there, even with four horses, is a 
day's journey. 

Yours, &c. 

My short route through North Wales was from 

MILES, INNS. 

Devil's Bridge to Aberystwith .... 11 Black Lion. 
Machynllaeth . . 20 Unicorn. 
Dolgelle 14 Golden Lion. 



118 



LETTERS ON THE 



Dolgelle to Barmouth . . , 
Maentwrog . 
Beddgelert . 
Llanberis . . . 
Caernarvon . 
Bangor Ferry 
Beaumaris . 



MILES. INNS. 

. 10 Gors y Gedal Arms. 

. 17£ No Sign. 

. 8{- Hotel. 

. 12 No Sign. 

. 10 Sportsman. 

. 10 No Sign. 

. 6 Bull. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 119 



LETTER XII. 

Merionethshire is the most interesting 
county in your route. It has not, I think, the 
stupendous, craggy wildness of Caernarvonshire, 
but is equal to it in calm sublimity, and superior 
in richness, variety, and beauty. The moun- 
tains, if not so high and numerous, display more 
varied and beautiful colouring, as well as a more 
correct and elegant outline. The two delicious 
vales of Festiniog, and of the Mawdach, may vie 
with any in the principality, and as much may be 
affirmed, perhaps, of its water-falls. It can boast 
two lakes, Bala and Tal y Llyn, and one majestic 
castle, that of Harlech. The situation of some 
towns is also much admired, especially of Dinas 
Mowddwy and Dolgelle. Two circumstances give 
Welch towns a preference in the painter's eye, to 
those of England; their irregularity, and their 
being generally built (the inferior ones, at least), 
not with brick, but with the stone of the country. 



120 LETTERS ON THE 

They are thus less formal both in outline and 
detail, and their colour harmonizes better with the 
accompaniments of wood and mountain. Dolgelle 
is an instance. The houses are of grey stone, and 
as irregularly built as an artist could wish. It will 
put you in mind of Gray's description of Kendal- — 
" the houses seem as if they had been dancing a 
country dance, and were out." You may profit by 
their blunder ; and, if you like sketching towns 
better than I do, you may find a good station on 
the north side, with Cader Idris for a back ground. 
A crowd of houses, like any other crowd, is a 
difficult subject for the pencil. Hear Gilpin on 
this point. " The management of a crowd re- 
quires great artifice. The whole must be con- 
sidered as one body, and massed together— not to 
have the whole body so agglomerated, as to consist 
of no detached groups, but to have these groups 
(of which there should not be more than two or 
three) appear to belong to one whole, by the 
artifice of composition, and the effect of light. 
This great whole must be further varied also in its 
parts. Thus in managing a crowd, and in manag- 



SCENERY OF WALES. 121 

ing a landscape, the same general rules are to be 
observed ; the whole and its parts must be com- 
bined and contrasted." * 

Dolgelle is a very convenient centre from which 
to explore the country. " I know of no place in 
the principality (says Sir R. Hoare), from whence 
so many pleasing and interesting excursions may be 
made ; and where nature bears so rich, so varied, 
and so grand an aspect." f The excursions most 
recommended are — to Machynllaeth — The Water- 
falls — -Barmouth — the top of Cader Idris — and as 
a fifth, to Dinas Mowddwy, from thence to Bala 
over the mountains, and back through the vale in 
which the river Dee takes its rise, f Our route 
includes the three first, and also the fourth, if, as 
I suggested, you cross over Cader Idris from Tal y 
Llyn. The scenes around Dinas Mowddwy, and 
the adjacent village of Mallwyd, are much praised; 
but Bala lake is not high in favour with painters. 
The complaint seems to be, that its banks are 

* Observ. Wye, p. 77. 

f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 385. % IbiJ - 



122 LETTERS ON THE 

cultivated ; and thus the rocks and woods are re- 
moved too far from the water's edge, to be brought 
into strong and prominent effect in a picture. 

By all means reserve* a day for Barmouth ; you 
will be delighted with the walk both thither and 
back. It is a continued series of pictures, not 
sublime, as on the Machynllaeth road, but exqui- 
sitely beautiful. A chain of mountains, among 
which Cader Idris is nobly conspicuous, bounds 
each side of the valley: the Mawdach winding 
beneath, and giving to the views the character of 
lake scenery. The walk should be taken when 
the tide is up. You will here have occasion to 
admire again that rich variety of colour and cloth- 
ing which distinguishes many of the Welch moun- 
tains, and when seen through the clear blue haze 
of a sultry day, gives their long perspective an 
inexpressible softness and beauty. 

About half way are two views, with most, if not 
all, the finest features of the valley. One from 
the high ground above the river, looking back 
toward Dolgelle. It commands a wide and varied 
reach of the Mawdach, with the town in distance, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 123 

under a range of mountains. You will know the 
spot by a lime-kiln on the left of the road : pass 
it, till the road rather descends, and turns to the 
right ; then face about. 

STATION. 

Bring the left end of the town over the lime*- 
kiln, and let the boundary line of the river be a 
little above it. 

This beautiful picture will afford ample scope 
for skill and science in the execution, especially if 
coloured. The lime-kiln is happily placed. It is 
indeed one of the most useful objects in the land- 
scape painter's catalogue; such variety in the form, 
colour, and materials, and in the figures, imple- 
ments, and business about it : the smoke too is 
beautiful in itself, and may be guided where you 
please, to veil different parts of the picture, break 
their outline, and connect them with the sky. 

The other view is at the bottom of a descent 
down a rocky steep, and still in the left side of 

6 



124 LETTERS ON THE 

the road. You look over a marsh to the river, 
which is bounded by a hanging wood, mountains 
rising gracefully behind, and topped by Cader Idris. 

STATION. 

Let the outline of the hanging wood pass just 
below the top of the rocky steep : then bring the 
most distant mountain rather to the left of it. 

Cader Idris, wherever it appears, and it appears 
almost every where, is handsome ; here remark- 
ably so ; and when I saw it, the effect was height- 
ened by its summit being partially veiled in light 
clouds. The striated, basaltic appearance of its 
barren side is curious, nor did I notice it elsewhere, 
except in Craig y Deryn ; but the effect is not 
unpleasing, provided the lines be not marked too 
regularly and strongly. 

About eight miles from Dolgelle, on the right 
hand side of the road, stands an old mill, a simple 
study but well accompanied. Take it just beloxv 
the foot bridge. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 125 



STATION. 



As near the bridge as you can draw it, bring 
the chimney of the mill exactly over the left end 
of the arch. 

Barmouth* as almost every nook of every coast 
now, is a watering place. Its origin, as the resort 
of invalids, has been attributed to persons fre- 
quenting the banks of this part of the river for the 
sake of the scurvy grass, which grows there in 
abundance.f Like Dartmouth, it is built up a 
steep rock, street above street, the windows of one 
overlooking the chimneys of the next below. It is 
said to resemble Gibraltar. The sand is very in- 
convenient, ankle deep in the street, and some- 
times blown most plentifully into the houses. 
There is a tolerable inn, the Gorfygedol Arms ; 

* This town, from its situation near the river Maw, or 
Mawdach, is sometimes called Abermaw, the conflux of 
the Maw. This was shortened into Bermaw, and corrupted 
to Barmouth. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 23. 

f Bingley, ibid. 



126 - LETTERS ON THE 

and at it an harper, but not one of Drayton's old 
British bards, 

Who on their harps, 
For falling flats, and rising sharps, 
That curiously were strung ; 
To stir their youth to warlike rage, 
Or their wild fury to assuage, 
In their loose numbers sung. 

Nor one that would have stirred up Gray's poetic 
spirit. It is a curious circumstance, that we owe 
his bard to a Welch harper — blind Parry, Sir 
Watkin Wynne's harper. In a letter from Cam- 
bridge, Gray says, " Mr. Parry has been here, and 
scratched out such ravishing blind harmony, such 
tunes of a thousand years old, with names enough 
to choke you, as have set all this learned body a 
dancing, and inspired them with due respect for 
my old bard, his countryman, whenever he shall 
appear. Mr. Parry, you must know, has set my 
Ode in motion again, and has brought it at last 
to a conclusion " * 

* Mason's Memoirs of Gray? p- 447. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 127 

To draw Barmouth, you must go a long way 
down upon the sands, when the tide is out, but it 
is a confined, heavy subject, and will hardly repay 
the labour. Some contrive to take part of the 
town, with Llanaber church in the distance. 

Llanellyd Bridge is sometimes sketched, and 
Cader Idris as seen from the village. There are 
some ruins of an abbey near Dolgelle — Kimmer, 
or (as the Welch call it) Y Vanner Abbey ; but 
they are said to be by no means picturesque.* 

The water-falls are on our next stage to Maen- 
twrog, a seventeen miles walk, which will take up 
a long day. 

Yours, &c. 

* Girald. Camb. vol. ii. p. 4-6. 



128 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER XIII. 

Only two of the water-falls are fit for the 
pencil, though all three deserve a visit. Falling 
water is attractive in every variety : who crosses a 
bridge without stopping to watch the stream? 
The softness and composure of gliding water ; the 
liquid lustre, playful change, and lulling sound of 
light cascades ; the downfall, roar, impetuosity, 
whiteness, and all the nameless features of the 
cataract ; are sure to attract every beholder, and 
raise emotions of wonder and delight. Hence the 
high beauty of falling water in embellishing, or 
even forming a picture. But it is difficult of 
execution, and few masters succeed in it. One 
difficulty is, to catch the features, their rapid 
change at first perplexing the eye ; but by watch- 
ing attentively, a constant recurrence of the same 
forms may, I think, be perceived : and must it not 




$? 






SCENERY OF WALES. 129 

be so, while the same quantity of water flows 
through the same channel with the same velocity? 
In colouring water a failure seems often occasioned 
by assuming a general tone, painting it green, 
blue, like a torrent of milk, or as if cut out of 
stone, though it must obviously reflect the hue of 
the adjacent objects. There is one remarkable 
appearance of water, which I do not remember to 
have seen imitated by the best masters — its glossi- 
ness. In the pictures of Ruysdaal, for instance, 
there is much water, but never this gloss — this 
pearliness (if I might so speak) : yet it is pic- 
turesque, for we see it in the representation of the 
metals, satin, fruit, &c. Is it then too difficult ? a 
perfection the art has not yet reached? This I 
leave to the consideration of wiser heads, and will 
now conduct you to the falls. 

The first is the Dolmelynllyn Fall, Rhaiadr 
Du,* as it is called, or the black cataract, pro- 
bably from the dark colour of the rocks. It is a 

* This must not be confounded with another of the same 
name, to the right of the road between Beddgelert and 
Harlech. 

K 



130 LETTERS ON THE 

perfect picture of romantic beauty, and in variety 
and decorations perhaps unrivalled. About six 
miles from Dolgelle, a gate on the left side of the 
road leads up to it, just after you cross a bridge 
there, bestriding the furious course of the Gamlam 
But the view from the road must not be neg- 
lected ; the water tumbling from a distant height 
through broad rocks, across which is thrown a rude 
wooden bridge. It is a good centre piece ; the 
sides, as in a portrait, to be filled up ad libitum. 
Bingley says, trees have been cut down on one 
side of the stream ;* try your skill then in re- 
planting them. 

STATION. 

The left of the road. Bring the middle of the 
bridge (or middle post), exactly over the angle 
made by the two rocks which support it. (PI. 5, 
fig. 2.) 

Dolmelynllyn Fall may be taken from several 
stations. I fixed upon one, where the two prin- 

* North Wales, vol. ii. p. 36. 



SCENEKY OF WALES. 131 

cipal falls are seen distinct from each other, and 
let down by two smaller, which join the torrent at 
the bottom. A rock rises on the right, and on the 
opposite side of the torrent is a steep crowned with 
an old oak. 

STATION. 

The water's edge. Bring the foot of the steep 
wider the highest fall. 

The variety of water in this scene is admirable. 
Here are fonr falls, and all different. Two prin- 
cipal ones, of which the higher and more distant is 
divided by a rock into two sheets, and rather less 
inclined than the lower. Two smaller, differing 
from them and from one another ; the first broken 
into numerous arched cascades ; the second in- 
dented by opposite currents. These are connected 
and contrasted with a smooth horizontal sheet, and 
again with the flashing torrent below. This variety 
is still further increased by the changeful direction 
of the water. First from right to left, next from 

k 2 



132 LETTERS ON THE 

left to right, then in both directions, and lastly 
from right to left again. 

The accompaniments are equally various and 
happily disposed. The' more distant rocks on one 
side are headed with spreading trees, on the other 
variegated with shrubs and hanging wood : the 
nearer steep partially clothed, and topped with a 
stunted oak, and opposed to an almost naked 
perpendicular rock on the right. All these are 
again blended or contrasted in form and colour 
without an offensive tint or line. 

I have described this waterfall the more mi- 
nutely, because it is more correctly and highly 
finished than any other you will see, and an atten- 
tive study will improve both your skill and taste. 

Regaining the road, you cross the river, in about 
a quarter of a mile, at a bridge called (I believe), 
Pont ar Garfa, and mount a tedious slate hill. At 
the top, a little to the right, is a farm-house, which 
I mention, because I procured a guide there ; and 
one you must have to the other two water-falls, of 
the Cain, and the Mawdach. After traversing the 



SCENERY OF WALES. 133 

top of the hill half a mile, you descend the glen, 
where the two rivers unite. The trunk of a tree 
is laid across the impetuous Cain, as a bridge, a 
few paces from the fall ; but they cannot be seen 
together, gladly as a painter would combine them ; 
nor is the fall itself a good subject. Its height 
is magnificent, said to be above one hundred and 
fifty feet; and the effect of the water flashing 
behind the dark arms of the trees that overarch 
the fall, is exceedingly brilliant ; but the hori- 
zontal strata of the rocks resemble a flight of 
stairs, and when I saw it there was not water 
sufficient to disguise this formality ; even when 
there is, it must be deficient in variety. The 
dripping and streaming of the water over the edges 
of the rocks should not escape your hint book. 

About two hundred yards distant is the fall of 
the Mawdach, of a character as different as that of 
Dolmelynllyn is from both. " Indeed we may 
extend this remark (says Warner well enough) to 
all the particulars of Welch scenery, each spot 
having, as it were, a character peculiar to itself; 
a circumstance which produces inexhaustible va- 



134 LETTERS ON THE 

riety, and constant sources of fresh entertainment 
to the admirer of nature." * The river here de- 
scends in three spreading breaks of fifty or sixty 
feet, into a capacious basin, the upper and least 
considerable sheet falling toward the spectator ; do 
not cross the water, therefore, or you will lose this. 
The whole had, to my eye, an air of heaviness ; 
but as a fall of distinct character you may draw it. 

STATION. 

Let the pile of rocks on your left hide about 
half the breadth of the water, and the wood 
behind the fall he just visible. 

Descending to the road again, it continues dull 
and barren as far as the village of Trawsfynydd, 
near which you catch, for the first time, a glimpse 
of Snowdon. Four miles beyond is Maentwrog,f 

* Walk through Wales, p. 112, 4th edit. 

f The stone of Tvorog, so denominated from a large stone 
in the church-yard, at the north-east corner of the church. 
Twrog was a British saint, about the year 610. Bingley, 
vol. ii. p. 5. Festiniog is the place of hastening. Tan y Bwlch, 
means beloxv the pass. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 135 

where I stopped, rather than at the more fre- 
quented inn of Tan y Bwlch, a quarter of a mile 
further. 

The vale of Maentwrog, or, as it is usually 
(though less properly) called, the Vale of Festiniog, 
seems to have challenged all the praise of all the 
tourists. One calls it " the Tempe of the 
Country."* Another tells us, " the traveller will 
here find himself on Syren ground." f A third, 
that "it comprehends every object that can enrich 
or diversify a landscape." f A fourth, that " it 
affords as rich studies for the painter, as the 
neighbourhood of Tivoli or Frascati," $ " With a 
woman one loves (says a fifth), the friend of one's 
heart, and a good study of books, one might pass 
an age in this vale, and think it but a day," |j 
After such high praise, Festiniog may chance to 
disappoint you. But your pencil need not be idle ; 

* Pennant, p. 127. 

f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 386. 

+ Warner's First Walk, p. 117. 

§ Wyndham Abr. p. 132. 

j| Lord Littleton's Letters on Wales. 



136 LETTERS ON THE 

I have one view for you, from Tan y Bwlch 
Bridge, looking up the river (east). The parts are 
simple, and unite easily. The winding road, 
hanging wood on the opposite side of the river, 
and perspective of craggy mountains, are all fea- 
tures of the vale, and well arranged. The number 
of little islands that crowd this river (the Dwyryd, 
or Tzvo Fords), give it a peculiar character, and 
will exercise your skill in grouping and combining 
them. The lower part of the wood also has the 
same studded appearance, and is by this means 
readily connected with the water. 

STATION. 

On the bridge. Bring the foot of the wood 
exactly under the summit of the second mountain, 
(counting to the right). 

The falls of the Cynfael, at a short distance 
from Tan y Bwlch Inn, should certainly be drawn. 
Being misinformed, I did not see them. But an 
artist has since shown me a clever sketch, and 
assured me, they are beautiful and uncommon. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 137 

Bingley saw another water-fall called Rhaiadr Du, 
up a woody valley to the right of the Harlech road. 
I suspect this is sometimes confounded with my 
favourite the Dolmelynllyn Fall, which also is called 
Rhaiadr Du. It may he proper therefore to give 
you his description, the only one I have met with. 
" In this cataract, which is surrounded with dark 
and impending scenery, the water is thrown with 
vast impetuosity over three hlack and smooth 
rocks, each in a different direction. Of its height 
I could form no idea ; for the top of the upper fall, 
by the winding of the rocks, was not visible from 
below. The rock that hangs immediately over the 
fall was, from its great height and rude form, a 
fine object in the landscape ; and the whole of the 
hollow, to some distance below the cataract, was 
extremely grand. I attempted to climb the upper 
part, but the rocks were too perpendicular, and too 
slippery, to suffer the attempt without danger, 
Therefore contenting myself with seeing as much 
as I could from below, I crossed the water, and 
crept along, but not without difficulty, on the 
shelving rocks, by the side of the stream, for near 



138 LETTERS ON THE 

half a mile. Here the banks closed over my 
head, leaving but a narrow chasm, from which the 
light was altogether excluded by the dark foliage 
from each side, and I found myself entering, to 
appearance, the mouth of a deep and horrid cavern. 
The sides were too steep for me to entertain any 
idea of clambering up, and unless I chose to 
scramble back again to the cataract, I had no 
alternative but to penetrate the place. The dark- 
ness, fortunately, did not extend far, and I soon 
found myself in a place, where the bank was 
sufficiently sloping to admit of my ascending to 
the meadows above : I was not a little pleased in 
having thus easily escaped from this abode of 
horror." * 

Tan y Bwlch Hall, seated on the brow of a 
hanging wood, is a conspicuous feature at the 
north-western extremity of the vale. I walked 
over the grounds, which seemed laid out with 
taste; but I would counsel you rather to walk 
toward Beddgelert ; much is to be seen and done 

* North Wales, vol. ii. p. 4. 
3 



SCENERY OF WALES. 139 

there. On the way you will pass Traeth Bach 
and Traeth Mawr,* two estuaries, which open into 
Cardigan bay ; the former receiving the Dwyryd, 
the latter the stream from above Pont Aberglass- 
llynn. Some think them advantageous points for 
sketching the range of Snowdon mountains at 
their heads. And as the Beddgelert road is not 
very interesting, till within half a mile of Pont 
Aberglasllyn, it might be adviseable to take a 
circuit across these sands to the bridge. There is 
one grand view, I am told, in which Harlech 
castle makes a distinguished figure. The track, 
however, is neither safe, nor easily found, without 
a guide. The distance to Beddgelert, by the usual 
road, is between eight and nine miles. 

Yours, &c. 

* Traeth Bach is the little haven. Traeth Mawr, the 
great haven. 



140 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER XIV. 

About a mile and a half from Beddgelert, 
Pont Aberglasllyn* conducts you into Caernar- 
vonshire, the wildest and most mountainous dis- 
trict of the principality. " In the inner parts 
(says Camden), nature hath raised them far and 
wide into high mountains, (as if she would con- 
dense here, within the bowels of the earth, the 
frame of this island). We may very properly call 
these mountains the British Alps ; for besides 
that they are the highest in all the island, they 
are also no less inaccessible, for the steepness of 
their rocks, than the Alps themselves, and do all 
of them encompass one hill, which far exceeding 
all the rest in height, does so tower the head aloft, 
that it seems, I shall not say, to threaten the sky, 
but even to thrust its head into it."f The interior, 

* The bridge at the conflux of the blue pool. It is some- 
times called the Devil's Bridge. Bingley, vol. i. p. 370. 
f Edit. Gibson, p. 663. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 141 

in fact, is one vast assemblage of mountains, of 
which Snowdon forms the centre — barren, rugged, 
precipitous, and, in general, of less bold and grace- 
ful outline than those of the sister county Merio- 
neth. Caernarvonshire contains little wood, and 
no river of consequence, unless it may claim the 
Conwy. The coast varies in character. On the 
north the views are admired for their boldness and 
grandeur, especially where embellished with Conwy 
Castle, confessedly the most majestic in Britain. 
On the west, along the Menai, and for seven miles 
within, it is a spacious meadow, as far as Caer- 
narvon, below which it gradually becomes less cul- 
tivated and interesting; and the few travellers, 
who have visited that part, tell us, that the country 
is dreary and thinly inhabited, the towns poor and 
insignificant, and the southern extremity bleak, 
open, and exposed. On the south-east Caernarvon 
resumes some of its wildest and most daring fea- 
tures, till, on the border of the Vale of Conwy, 
they are again softened down into calmness and 
beauty. 

At so famed a spot as Pont Aberglasllyn, you 



142 LETTERS ON THE 

will of course pause, and make a sketch : though 
you may probably think with me, that its pic- 
turesque beauty has been overrated. Is it not 
more striking as a military pass, a Thermopylce, 
where a handful of Cambrians might have baffled 
the hosts of Edward ? The features seem almost 
unmanageable, and, as is said of some Swiss 
scenery, too gigantic for the pencil. No drawing 
has given me an accurate idea of their stupendous 
height and magnitude. The bridge itself is in- 
significant, and of an ordinary form, and wants 
the lofty site, the bold and careless fling, to give 
it grandeur. The most timid spectator may 
surely look down a depth of forty feet without 
horror. 

A near view of the bridge is usually taken, from 
the bank just below, after crossing it. Let me 
recommend another less known (I have seen but 
one sketch), from a road on the left, about a quarter 
of a mile before you reach the bridge. Some way 
down, the view opens upon some broken ground, 
directly up the river. At this distance the sub- 
limity of the mountains behind the bridge appears 



SCENERY OF WALES. 143 

greater, the eye taking in more of their height and 
bulk ; the windings of the river relieve their heavi- 
ness, and the narrowness of the pass is more striking. 

STATION. 

Let the foot of the mountain before the bridge 
on the right be exactly under the middle of the 
arch ; then recede from the water's edge, till you 
see its course up to the bridge. 

The salmon-leap just above Pont Aberglasllyn 

is studied as a water-fall, from the side opposite to 

theBeddgelert road, but there are some finer studies 

of this kind among the rocks higher up the river. 

The extraordinary feats of the salmon will amuse 

you, springing out of the water eight or nine feet. 

Bingley thinks this power is owing to a sudden 

jirk, which the fish give to their bodies, from a 

bent to a straight position :* I saw many fail. As 

you approach Beddgelert, observe a distant view 

of the village and church, just before the road and 

river bend to the right. The chain of descending 

mountains which forms their back ground is very 

grand. 

* North Wales, vol. i. p. 373. 



144 LETTERS ON THE 



STATION. 



Bring the bend of the river a little to the right 
of the village; and let the village and church he 
in one horizontal line. 

The tradition which accounts for the name of 
this village has been often told, but must be told 
once more for your edification. Llewelyn the 
Great, Prince of Wales, is said to have had a 
hunting-seat near this place, and a favourite grey- 
hound, named Gelert, a present from his father-in- 
law, King John. During the absence of the family, 
the story is, that a wolf entered the house, and on 
Llewelyn's return, his dog came out to meet him 
smeared with blood. The Prince in alarm ran to 
his child's cradle, which he found overturned on 
the bloody ground. Imagining the dog had killed 
his son, he instantly stabbed him, but on turning 
up the cradle, he found his child alive, and sleep- 
ing by the side of the dead wolf. In memory of 
this circumstance, he erected a tomb over his 
faithful dog's grave, on the spot, where afterwards 
the parish church was built, and called from this 



SCENERY OF WALES. 145 

incident, Bedd Gelert, or the grave of Gelert* 
The village consists only of a few straggling 
cottages, with a neat churchy and a picturesque 
bridge. It has now two inns, one of them, the 
hotel, as good as the other is miserable ; I have 
tried both. At the former you will hear a 
harp again ; but, as usual, a woful performer. 
Good ones, I am told, are kept in some gentle- 
men's families, the Welch still retaining a fond- 
ness for their national instrument and music. To 
what exquisite harmony Welch ears were attuned 
in the fifteenth century, the following lines are a 
curious specimen. 

If I have my harp, I care for no more ; 

It is my treasure, I keep it in store : 

For my harp is made of a good mare's skin, 

The strings be of horsehair, it maketh good din : 

My song, and my voice, and my harp do agree, 

Much like the buzzing of an humble bee.f 

Even now, indeed, we rarely hear the harp well 

* Bingley, vol, i. p. 364<. 
f Jones's Relicks of Welch Bards, p. 102, 
L 



146 LETTERS ON THE 

played — from a celestial instrument we expect 
" angelic harmonies." 

Some profitable excursions may be made round 
Beddgelert, for almost every step presents a new 
picture. The mountain which faces the inn is 
often drawn, and not, perhaps, from a better 
station. The outline is good, and there are some 
handsome ash-trees under it : the ash grows re- 
markably graceful in this neighbourhood. 

A stroll toward Pont Aberglasllyn will furnish 
some useful studies of water and rock. Of the 
latter it has been*. justly remarked, that "there is 
nothing landscape painters, in general, have studied 
more negligently. The modes of stratification, 
and the peculiar characters of the different kinds, 
are seldom sufficiently distinguished, even where 
they are most strongly marked." * Sir R. Hoare sends 
the painter, who wishes to study the grand masses 
of rock in detail to the coast of Pembrokeshire, 
and to pay his devotion at the well of St. Go wen. f 
Did you ever try a piece of coal as a rock study ? 
it is excellent. Brush it over with whitening and 

* Malkin, p. 617. t Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 408. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 147 

size to take off the glare, and then tint it, if you 
like, with transparent colours. It should be se- 
lected with care. A twig or branch is thus a 
useful study, as a stump, and may even be com- 
bined with the coal ; if not rugged enough, wet 
grey paper wrapped round, and squeezed close, will 
give it a barky appearance. I have been told that 
Gainsborough worked much from such studies, and 
kept a table filled with them. Paul Sanaby had 
many models for his pupils, which were eagerly 
bought up by the curious after his death. A friend 
of mine has one of a cottage Jire proof,* so that 
he can thus study from it, at leisure, that beautiful 
object, ascending smoke. 

As you descend toward the bridge, the moun- 
tains, at one particular part of the valley, appear 
all but to meet. This view may be worth taking 
for its singularity, and as a characteristic scene of 
barren grandeur. The winding road, river, and 
mountainous perspective, give variety to the pic- 
ture, and relieve its heaviness. 



* A composition for modelling these is plaster of Paris 
L 2 



and glue. 



148 LETTERS ON THE 

STATION. 

Where the pass appears contracted to the 
width of the road there : let the river make two 
bends before it reaches the pass. 

Goats are sometimes seen here. I surprised 

two on the rocks near the water, and the only 

place where I ever met with any, except in a wood 

near Bualt. It is a ludicrous fancy, which some 

take up, that in Wales, goats, harps, and ponies, 

are to be found at every turn. Goats are all 

private property now ; none, as formerly, running 

entirely wild. Landlords, it is said, discourage 

the keeping of them, because they injure the 

growth of timber by nibbling the bark. But they 

rather seem superseded by sheep, which almost 

rival them in adventurous spirit, so unlike their 

English timidity. Change but a word, and those 

beautiful lines of Bowles, would as accurately 

describe the goat. 

Amidst the crags, and scarce descend so high, 
Hangs here and there a sheep, by its faint bleat 
Discover' d ; while the astonish'd eye looks up, 
And marks it, on the precipice's brink, 
Pick its scant fare secure. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 149 

Goats are useful animals in a landscape, mark* 
ing its character, and affording considerable variety 
of colour and attitude. Claude introduces them 
freely : I have seen a whole herd in some of his 
pictures. He sometimes puts them, with good 
effect, in shade, upon the edge of a precipice, to 
break the outline. 

Another ramble may be along the Caernarvon 
road, taking Beddgelert Bridge on your way. The 
pointed arches, ivy, and accompaniment of trees, 
make it, from some stations, an agreeable subject, 
and distinct from the general hard and rugged 
character of the views here, 

STATION, 

Let the turnpike-gate connect the bridge and 
house; and the middle of the bridge be rather 
higher than the base of the cottage pn the left. 

Rather further than half way to Caernarvon, is 
a more wild and complex scene ; a mill, with a 
cascade, and bridge, under some black and craggy 
mountains. Pass the bend of the road to the left* 
and then look back toward Beddgelert, 



150 LETTERS ON THE 



STATION. 



Let the house at the extremity of the road 
appear equally distant from the cottages and mill : 
then bring the cottages and mill into one hori- 
zontal line. 

One general feature in the scenes around Bedd- 
gelert, is a back ground of rock and mountain. 
Here the rock on the right is strangely abrupt 
and grotesque ; and in the distance the red preci- 
pitous cliffs, and huge bulk of Snowdon, are dis- 
tinguishable. 

The Capel Curig road should be explored a 
few miles. About half a mile from Beddgelert 
Church, you come to an old bridge and mill, 
which, with the back ground of billowy mountains, 
deserve both a near and distant sketch. You must 
notice two solitary trees on the right, one near the 
mill, the other on the rock behind it. 

DISTANT STATION. 

Bring the trees into a perpendicular line, and 



SCENERY OF WALES. 151 

let the boundary of the meadows appear a little 
above the railing of the bridge. 

NEAR STATION. 

Bring the tree over the further gable end of 
the mill ; and let the railing appear as high as the 
nearer one. 

I tried a third still nearer, much like that in 
Pennant's work, but I do not recommend it. The 
distant station gives the most complete picture. 
The bridge is quite in character with the naked 
wildness of the surrounding scenery, and adds one 
more to the variety we have met with of these 
generally pleasing features of a mountainous 
country. 

Somewhat further, on the left, is the rock called 
Dinas Emrys,* of which you may see an engrav- 

* Dinas Emrys is the fort of Emrys. Vortigern was 
king of Britain from 449 to 496. He attempted to erect on 
Snowdon an impregnable fortress, but what was built in the 
day always disappeared in the night. He was then told, 
the building would not stand, unless sprinkled with the blood 

3 



152 LETTERS ON THE 

ing in the Translation of Giraldns ; * but it is 
more interesting to the antiquary than to the 
painter : the prophet Merlin, or Myrddyn Emrys, 
there foretold his future fate to the unfortunate 
Vortigern. Just beyond, on the opposite side, is 
a small pool called Llyn y Dinas,f which some 
think worth drawing. There are two or three 
other subjects, still further, which I did not see. 
Cwm Llan, from whence I have known a view of 
Snowdon taken, looking up the hollow ; also Llyn 
Gwynant, beyond the entrance into Cwm Llan, 
Bingley ascended the rocks on the left of the vale, 
to see a waterfall called Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli : " The 
rocks (he says) had in themselves sufficient gran- 

of a child born without father. One was at length found, 
said to be the offspring of an Incubus, This child, named 
Merlin Emrys, or Ambrosius, when about to be sacrificed, 
confounded all the magicians by his questions, explained the 
cause of the failure, and obtained his liberty. Pennant, 
Snowdonia, p. 175, 

* Vol. i. p. 125. 

f The pool of the fort. Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli is the water* 
fall of the vale of Dyli : Cwm Llan, the vale of the church : : 
Llyn Gwynant, the pool of waters. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 153 

deur to compensate for his trouble, and there was 
still water enough to render the scene extremely 
picturesque." * These out of the way spots are 
sometimes unexpected prizes to the artist : and if 
he would more frequently strike out of the beaten 
road, and penetrate the recesses of the country, 
winding among the mountains, or tracing their 
torrents, he might probably meet with scenes that 
would repay the labour. In such excursions a 
pocket compass would be useful. 

You should have a guide, to tell you the names 
of these places I have mentioned; the way to 
them is easy enough. 

The pools of Nant Lie, from Bingley's account, 
deserve a walk to them. He particularly admired 
the scene near an ancient overshot mill between 
the pools, f Llanllyfni, not far beyond, is drawn, 
I know ; and will not Wilson tempt you to go as 
far as Drws y coed \ (in the same neighbourhood), 

* North Wales, vol. i. p. 382. f Ibid. vol. i. p. 391. 

X The door of the ivood. Pennant states this to be 
Wilson's station ; though " few (he adds) are sensible of this, 
for few visit the spot." Snowdonia, p. 181, 



154 LETTERS ON THE 

where he made his celebrated picture of Snowdon, 
Woollett's engraving of which we have so often 
admired ? 

You will not leave Beddgelert, I suppose, with- 
out performing the usual feat of ascending Snow- 
don ; what little, therefore, I can tell you about 
this king of British mountains, shall be reserved 
for my next letter. 

Yours, &c. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 155 



LETTER XV. 

A chain of the highest mountains in Wales 
extends across Caernarvonshire, from Bardsey Island 
to Penmaen Bach in Conway Bay, gradually rising 
from each extremity toward the centre, which is 
occupied by Snowdon. The name of this moun- 
tain was first given it by the Saxons, and signifies 
a hill covered xvith snow; and the Welch call all 
this adjacent range Creigiau yr Eryri, the snoxvy 
cliffs. But it is not true, as has been asserted, 
that snow may be found upon it through the 
whole year: there is seldom any between the 
months of June and November ; for the point of 
permanent snow is at somewhat above 4350 feet, 
which is considerably higher than Snowdon. The 
temperature at the top is generally very low, 
even in the midst of summer. In July, just after 
sun-rise, the thermometer has been observed at 
34°, and in August at 48°, early in the afternoon. 



156 LETTERS ON THE 

Snowdon was held sacred by the ancient Britons, 
and they believed, that whoever slept upon it 
would wake inspired. It was formerly also a royal 
forest, and abounded with deer, but the last of 
these were destroyed early in the seventeenth cen- 
tury. The eagle is said still occasionally to visit 
the highest crags, and on the north and north-east 
side the botanist finds many uncommon alpine 
plants : Bingley reckons twenty-seven. Geolo- 
gists tell us (for I am not one), that Snowdon is 
basaltic ; that the precipitous western side consists 
of hornstone, on which are placed a number of 
basaltic columns, pentagonal, and standing per-r 
pendicular to the plane of the horizon.* Another 
curious fact is, that near the top there is a spring 
of very cold water, seldom increased or diminished 
in quantity either in summer or winter.f 

Snowdon may be ascended from various points ; 
Bingley tried four — from Dolbadarn Castle — Llan- 
beris — Llyn Cwellyn^-and Beddgelert, I took 
the last ; it is said to be the easiest and safest, 

* 
* Aikin's Tour, p. 99. f Bingley, vol. i. p. 254, 



SCENERY OE WALES. 157 

and much of it is practicable for horses. Which 
is the track for your sketch-book, I cannot say, 
but certainly not mine ; nor have I met with any 
drawing of the interior of Snowdon^ and only one 
from the peak, looking down the peninsula to- 
ward Bardsey Island and St. George's Channel.* 
Bird's-eye views are now the fashion, and this is 
certainly carrying it pretty high, much higher, in- 
deed, than you, I hope, will follow. Cader Idris is 
the painter's mountain; and even "in its form, 
Snowdon, though confessedly the highest in Wales, 
is by no means the most picturesque: for Cader Idris, 
Moelwyn, and Arran in North Wales, and Cader 
Arthur, near Brecknock, in South Wales, present 
a far bolder outline." f The first half of our way, 
nearly, lay over swampy ground, through which 
the guide seemed to pick his path with much 
caution. This soon changed to a wide extent of 
rugged, grey crags ; and here the expanse below 
appeared very noble and distinct. I was more sen- 
sible too of the height we stood at, than even 

* Water Colour Exhibition, 1817. 
f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 132. 



158 LETTERS ON THE 

when at the top ; for suddenly a cloud came roll- 
ing past, and poured a heavy rain upon us, while 
the whole prospect beneath was glowing with sun- 
shine. The ascent then became smooth, bare, and 
very steep, till within the last quarter of a mile, 
which was a horizontal ridge of rock, about ten or 
twelve feet across, down either side of which I 
could look to the very base of the mountain. The 
highest point is a craggy space, about two or three 
yards in diameter, and called Yr Wyddfa, the 
conspicuous. 

Many go up to see the sun-rise, and are dis- 
appointed. Your view would probably be finer 
in a bright noon. Mine was perfectly clear on 
one side of the mountain, and on the other exactly 
as Pennant describes it — a fog hung beneath, giv- 
ing " the idea of a number of abysses concealed by 
thick smoke, furiously circulating around ; some- 
times they would open only in one place, at others 
in many at once ; exhibiting a most strange and 
perplexing sight of water, fields, rocks, chasms, in 
fifty different places." * The prospect is of course 

* Snowdonia, p. 164. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 159 

vast, and almost unbounded ; but surely its cha- 
racter may be understood from an inferior eleva- 
tion ; and what is gained by fancying you see a 
speck, which the guide tells you is the Isle of 
Man ? If you prefer the certainty of nearer views, 
the appearance of the mountain itself will gratify 
you more : the caverns, lakes, precipices, and other 
peculiar features, are exceedingly grand and curious. 
I remember one of them that we came upon sud- 
denly, about half way up, with which I was much 
pleased. A crater, perhaps a quarter of a mile in 
circumference, and of tremendous depth, with 
steep smooth sides sloping inwards to the bottom 
without a single break. On peeping over the edge, 
I could discern two diminutive lakes, appearing in 
the deep gloom below, like two gems, and one of 
them of a pure emerald colour. 

The perpendicular height of Snowdon is, by late 
admeasurements, 1190 yards, (somewhat less than 
three quarters of a mile), from the level of the sea* 
This makes it, according to Pennant, 240 yards 

* Bingley, vol. i. p. 250. 



160 LETTERS ON THE 

higher than Cader Idris,* Some state Whern-* 
side, in Yorkshire, to be the highest mountain in 
South Britain, and more than 4000 feet. Hel- 
vellyn is 3324 feet, Benlomond 3262, But what 
mole-hills are all these compared with Mount 
Blanc, rising 15,680 feet, the highest mountain 
in Europe; or with the American Chimboraco, 
20,909 feet, the highest ground ever trodden by 
man, or with the mountains of Thibet, above 
25,000 feet, and the highest at present known, f 

The air is sharp on the top of Snowdon, but 
you may bear it without the help of brandy. 
There really needs no previous preparation what- 
ever. The walk is rather laborious, but may be 
leisurely taken in five hours, and the whole dis- 
tance is about ten miles. It is amusing to observe 
the anxiety of the adventurers to record their ex- 
ploit : scraps of paper are carefully packed among 

* Pennant makes Snowdon 3568 feet above the level of 
Caernarvon Bay, and Cader Idris 2S50 feet above the level 
of the green, near Dolgelle. Snowdonia, p. 164, and 88. 

+ According to Colonel Crawford. For the height of 
these mountains, see Reece's Encyclopaedia, Art. Mountain, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 161 

stones at the top, with their names, and the date 
of their excursion ; 

So strong the zeal t* immortalize himself 
Beats in the breast of man, that e'en a few, 
Few transient years, won from th' abyss abhorr'd 
Of blank oblivion, seems a glorious prize. Cowper, 

We descended to the same point, a cottage on the 
Caernarvon road, ahout three miles from Beddge- 
lert, by a less interesting track, and with no better 
success in finding any memoranda for my pencil to 
make of my exploit. 

Yours, &c. 



M 



162 LETTERS ON THE 



LETTER XVI. 

From Beddgelert to Llanberis * the distance 
is about twelve miles, eight along the Capel Curig 
road, then to the left down a tremendous moun- 
tain pass, not easily found without a guide ; im- 
pending rocky precipices on either side, enormous 
fragments lying about in the wildest confusion, no 
animal life, no vegetation, no sound but of a tiny 
rill, that rather makes the stillness audible — the 

* The church of Peris. Llan, or Lhan, properly signifies 
a yard, or small enclosure, as may be observed in compound 
words. For we find a vineyard^ called Gvoin-llan ; an 
Orchard, Per-llan ; a hay-yard, Yd-llan ; a church-yard, 
Korph-llan ; a sheep-fold, Kor-llan, &c. However, it denotes 
separately a church or chapel, and is of common use in this 
sense throughout Wales : probably, because such yards or 
enclosures might be places of worship in times of heathenism, 
or upon the first planting of Christianity, when churches were 
scarce. Camden, edit. Gibson, p. 166. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 16S 

whole is a scene of almost savage desolation,* and 
continues so nearly three miles, then gradually 
opening upon the hamlet of Llanberis and its 
peaceful lake. Some bold rock composition might 
probably be made, looking up the pass, but I had 
no opportunity of trying ; a hazy rain through 
which I saw it, though congenial with such 
scenery, and increasing its sublimity, hastened me 
on to the village. I got civility there, and a 
decent bed, but very scanty fare. If you stay 
longer than a day or two, you must carry your 
own provisions : remember too, that Llanberis is 
accessible on horseback, but not, I think, by a 
carriage ; down the mountain pass, certainly not. 

The village, shut out from the world by a wall 
of mountains, consists of a few moss-grown stone 
cottages, with a very mean church, f 

* One farm in this neighbourhood, of 2,400 acres, is let at 
sixty pounds per annum ; another, 600 acres, at five pounds 
per annum, or two-pence an acre. Hutton's Remarks, p. 166. 

-j- Dedicated to Peris, a cardinal missioned from Rome, as 
legate to this island. He is said to have settled and died 
here. Bingley, vol. i p. 238. 

M 2 



164 LETTERS ON THE 

Where no bones of heroes lie ; 
The rude inelegance of poverty- 
Reigns there alone. Bloomfield. 

Many fine drawings have been made of the lake; 
one of the best, perhaps, is that by Tnrner, in the 
council-room of the Royal Academy. Its cha- 
racter differs from any of the northern lakes that 
I have seen : Windermere is cheerful ; Derwent- 
water, romantic ; Wastwater, gloomy ; Grasmere, 
peaceful; Loweswater, engaging; but stately 
grandeur distinguishes Llanberis. I think, with 
Bingley, that it most resembles Ulswater, though 
more picturesque, especially in the form of the 
mountains. But it has, equally with that fine 
lake, another advantage ; it is not seen in detail, 
like a river ; nor, as some Scottish and American 
lakes, so extensive, that you might as well look at 
the sea ; — the whole is seen at once. Llanberis 
lake, in fact, consists of two, separated by a nar- 
row slip of land, and communicating by a stream, 
which runs from one into the other. The upper 
is about a mile long, and rather less than half a 
mile broad ; the lower is longer, and far more 



scenery of wales. 165 

beautiful. On a rocky point between them stands 
Dolbadarn Tower,* an admirable accompaniment 
wherever it is seem How well does this ruin 
exemplify Gilpin's remark ! " the angular and 
formal works of Vauban and Cohorn, when it 
comes to be their turn to be- superseded by works 
of superior invention, will make a poor figure in 
the annals of picturesque beauty; while not the 
least fragment of a British or a Norman castle 
exists, that is not surveyed with delight." f 

One station may be from the left side of the 
lake, as you go from the inn, just beyond the 
tower. 

STATION. 

Let the top of the most distant mountain appear 
a little to the left of the Tower, and its outline 
between the two lowest windows. (PI. 5, fig. 3.) 

* Castell Dolbadarn, the castle of Padarn's meadow, has 
its name from Padarn, a British saint, but of whom little is 
known. The fortress is evidently of British origin. Bingley, 
vol. i. p. 224. 

| Observ. Wye, p. 51. 



166 LETTERS ON THE 

Unfortunately I have not another station for 
you : but the lake well deserves a walk round, 
and should be tried from various points, and at 
the best times. Tourists, in general, do not view 
lake scenes at the most favourable times, which, I 
should say, are early in a morning, and after sun- 
set. For a principal, and, indeed, peculiar beauty 
arises from the reflections ; and in a calm, clear 
morning, these are vivid and distinct beyond de- 
scription, and broken, in a surprising manner, by 
gleams of light continually shooting across, and 
vanishing in quick and silent succession. About 
eight o'clock a breeze springs up, the reflections 
disappear, and the water is in motion for the day. 

The lake derives its evening beauty, the most 
attractive to a painter, from the same source. The 
reflections then are softer and broader, many ob- 
jects being in shade, and the shadows often divided 
by glancing lines of light, which increase without 
injuring the general effect. 

I have repeatedly noticed, with wonder and de- 
light, these almost magical appearances in the 
northern lakes : but opportunities must be watched, 

3 



SCENERY OF WALES. l6T 

and a happy concurrence of serene weather, warmth 
of sky, and softness of atmosphere, are requisite ; 
and hence, possibly, they are never seen at all by 
nine in ten of the hasty travellers who visit these 
spots. 

Llanberis lake is well seen from the inn, in twi- 
light also, and deserves a sketch as a distance. 
Dolbadarn Tower, and the opposing promontories, 
dimly seen in shade, and a soft gleam upon the 
water, relieving the general gloom, without dis- 
turbing the repose. 

The waterfall called Caunant Mawr,* to the 
left of the Caernarvon road, a little beyond the 
lake, is not worth turning aside to look at ; 
nor are there any interesting objects all the 
way (ten miles), but Dolbadarn Tower behind, 
and soon after, the turrets of Caernarvon Castle 
rising in distance before you. But after so much 
wildness, sublimity, and solitude, you may be glad 
to rest your eye on more placid scenes, and to hear 
again " the busy hum of men." 

* The waterfall of the great chasm. 



168 LETTERS ON THE 

Caernarvon* is the most handsome town m 
North Wales, and well paved, a circumstance very 
unusual in Welch towns. It is walled round, and 
the fortifications are still nearly entire. The Hotel 
(built by the Earl of Uxbridge), is the principal 
inn, but I was well accommodated at the Sports- 
man. The castle f is a grand and commanding 
ohject, and very deservedly the study and admi* 
ration of artists. It may be drawn from various 
stations; but, like all castles, perhaps, best if rather 
distant. I can recommend two. First go down 
to the water side, south-east of the town, beyond 
the castle ; follow the road past a lime-kiln, till it 
turns to the right, and you face tlie castle. 

* The name is properly Caer yn Arfon, which signifies a 
walled town in the district opposite to Anglesey. Arfon, or 
Ar mon, implies opposite to Mona. Bingley, vol. i. p. 191. 

f It was built by Edward the First, in the year 1283. The 
Eagle Tower received its name from the figure of an eagle 
yet left (though somewhat mutilated), at the top of it. It 
was in this tower that the first Prince of Wales, afterwards 
Edward the Second, was born on St, Mark's day, the 25th of 
April, 1284. The property of Caernarvon Castle is at present 
m the crown. Bingley, vol. i. p. 194-, &c. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 169 



STATION. 



Bring the Eagle Tower behind the first of the 
other four (countingjTrowz the left) : and let the 
boundary line of the Anglesea coast, be just above 
the base of the castle. 

Your other view should be of that singularly 
fine part of the castle, the Eagle Tower — 

From whose broad brows the slender turret springs, 
Light as the plumage on the warrior's helm. Sotheby. 

These turrets are equally elegant and uncom- 
mon, and, by their lightness and variety, greatly 
heighten the picturesque beauty of the tower. To 
find the station, cross the ferry, and turn to the 
right, till you face the tower looking south-east. 

STATION. 

Let the summit of the distant mountain be 
exactly over the pier-head, and the boundary line 
of the water just above it. 



170 LETTERS ON THE 

These are a pair of complete pictures — handsome 
objects, good assemblage of parts, distance, fore- 
ground, every thing, in short, you want, and just 
where it should be; scarcely a liberty to be taken; 
the first view is something like Wilson's, of which 
you may have seen Byrne's engraving. I have 
met with a third taken from high ground ; but a 
bird's eye view of a lofty object seems to me to 
diminish its dignity. 

From Caernarvon, as a centre, various excursions 
may be made, to Beddgelert, Llanberis, top of 
Snowdon, Bangor, and Nantlle pools ; all abound- 
ing with employment for the pencil. For a water 
excursion, a small decked cutter, containing two 
beds, and a cabin capable of holding about ten 
persons, may be hired for a guinea a day.* 

Nine miles will bring you to Bangor.f Within 
the last two, at the top of the hill, where the road 
turns off to the ferry, stop, and take the rich view 

* Bingley, vol. i. p. 191. 

f The chief choir. Deiniol ap Dunawd, Abbot of Bangor- 



SCENERY OF WALES. 171 

before you — Bangor, with its cathedral rising from 
the centre ; beyond, Beaumaris Bay, Orme's Head, 
the Irish Sea ; and, just appearing above the steep 
ground on the right, the rocky cap of Penmaen 
Mawr.* 

STATION. 

Bring the cathedral a little to the left of 
Orme's Head, and let its top break the line of 
the coast. 

Bangor, when I saw it, was in its Sunday dress, 
neat, quiet, and humble. The cathedral and pa- 
lace correspond, though the square tower of the 
former, seen at a distance, promises greater things. 

is-coed, in Flintshire, founded a college here, about the year 
525. This was raised to a bishopric thirty years after. In 
the tenth century Edgar increased the buildings and revenues. 
The tower and nave of the cathedral, as well as the palace, 
was built by Bishop Sheffington, in the year 1532. Bingley, 
vol.i. p. 168. 

* The great stone head, distinguished from Penmaen bach, 
the lesser Penmaen. 



172 LETTERS ON THE 

Perhaps you may find better accommodations at 
Bangor, than at the ferry : I cannot recommend 
the inn there to a frugal pedestrian, but it is the 
only one in Wales at which I was uncivilly treated; 
for the Welch are so accustomed to travellers on 
foot, that you will meet with much less incon- 
venience on that account, than in England. I 
remember being refused admittance, one evening, 
at five different houses on the road between Liver- 
pool and Manchester, and being taken succes- 
sively for a fisherman, footman, gamekeeper, and 
soldier. 

Before you cross the Menai* into Anglesey, 
ramble up the vale of Nant Frangom I saw it 
too hastily to make any sketch ; but artists find 
there several bold subjects. Ogwen pool (looking 
toward Bangor from the road), the fall of the 
Ogwen, and the village of Llandegai. 

The road from Bangor Ferry, to Beaumaris, 
about six miles, has been compared to that be- 
tween Barmouth and Dolgelle, but surely not 

* The narrow voater. Nant Frangon is the beaver s hollow* 



SCENERY OF. WALES. 173 

with justice to the latter ; nor can I see any re- 
semblance of character. You will, however, admire 
the magnificent chain of mountains on the opposite 
side of the Menai ; and in one part of the road, 
Beaumaris town and bay, with Priest-holme island, 
Orme's Head, and Penmaen Mawr, combine into 
a light view. Observe a wall on the right side of 
the road, terminating in a sort of buttress, and a 
steep on the left : that is the spot. 

STATION. 

Bring the buttress exactly under the near end 
of Priest-holme, and let the horizon rise as high 
as the top of the town. 

Beaumaris* is well situate on the western bank 
of the Menai, where it opens into a spacious bay. 
Most of the houses are neatly built, and it has 
one good street. The principal inn is the Bull, 

* The name, says Ho^nshed, is indicative of its pleasant 
situation in a low ground. But it may have been derived 
from Bimaris, the place of the meeting of two tides or seas. 
Bingley, vol. i. p. 333, 



174 LETTERS ON THE 

The castle* is a heavy pile, and stands low, but 
handsome as a distant object. It may be well 
taken from a road at the back of the town, leading 
up to Baron Hill, the seat of Lord Bulkley. 

STATION. 

Bring Aber over the second tower, and let the 
further shore of the Menai appear just above the 
first (counting both from the left). 

That part of the line of mountains which forms 
the distance here is truly majestic ; but the uni- 
formity of the nearer ground must be altered to 
complete the picture. 

I need not tell you that Anglesey was the last 
scene of Druidical superstition in Britain. You 
are no stranger to the Roman historian's account 
of the destruction of the Druids by Suetonius 
Paulinus, the governor of the country under Nero;f 
an event which, though terrible in itself, seemed 

* It was founded by Edward the First, about the year 
1295. It is now the property of the crown. Ibid, 
f Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 30. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 175 

introductory to Christianity in our island. Druid- 
ical antiquities are hence very numerous and entire 
in Anglesey. One of the finest is the Cromlech * 
in Plas Newydd Park (Lord Uxbridge's). The 
ponderous upper, or cap stone, as it is called, is 
twelve feet long, ten broad, and three or four thick: 
this is partly supported by five others, about four 
feet high, and from two to four thick. These rude 
masses, now more rude by the lapse of above two 
thousand years, touched with the rich hues of time, 
carelessly hung with fern and trailing plants, and 
shadowed with noble trees, form a beautiful and 
finished study. Bingley numbers no less than 
eight-and-twenty of these relicks of antiquity in 
the island, f Their original design has been much 

* The word Cromlech is British, and signifies a stone that 
is of a flat or concave form, or that inclines or bends down- 
ward. Rowlands derives it from the Hebrew Ccerem Luach, 
a devoted stone or altar. Bingley, vol. i. p. 301. 

f As some of these may be specimens deserving the notice 
of the artist, I shall copy his list. Vol. i. p. 303. 

In the Parish of 
Two at Plas Newydd Llan Edwen. 

One at Bodowyr, Llanidan. 



176 



LETTERS ON THE 



disputed; and whether they were intended as 
altars for Druidical sacrifices, places of worship, or 
sepulchral monuments, seems still as little known, 
as the means hy which they were erected. 



One at Trevor, 

Two at Ros Fawr, 

One at Marian Pant y Saer, 

One at Llugwy, 

One at Parkiau, 

Three on Bodafon Mountain, 

Three at Boddeiniol, 

One at Cromlech, 

One at Henblas, 

One at Tynewyddland, 

One, partly demolished, on 

Mynydd y Cnwe, 
Three small ones, near Cryg- 

hyll river 
One near Towyn Trewen, 
One near Llanallgo, 
One at Cremlyn, 
One at Myfyrian, 
One at Bodlew. 
One at Rhos y Ceryg. 



In the Parish of 
Llansadwrn. 
Llanfair yn Mathafarn. 
Ibid. 

Penrhos Llugwy. 
Ibid. 
Llanvihangel Tre'r-f 

beirdd. 
Llanbaleo. 
Llanfechell. 
Llan Gristiolis. 
Llanfaelog. 

Ibid. 

Ibid. 

Llanfihangel Yneibwl. 

Llanalgo. 

Llandone. 

Llanidan. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 177 

I saw little more of Anglesey, except Plas Gwyn,* 
the seat of my polite and hospitable friend, Mr. 
Panton. In the agreeable environs are several 
picturesque spots ; but Mr. Panton has obligingly 
pointed out to me the following as the principal 
resort of artists who have visited Anglesey, and 
affording the most interesting subjects for the 
pencil — the vicinity of PMs Newydd and of 
Baron Hill, and such parts of the coast as are 
adjacent more especially to Holyhead and Am- 
lwch, together with their respective neighbour- 
hoods. 

I am further indebted to Mr. Panton for a 
sketch, made by his nephew, of a beautiful cross in 
Lord Bulkley's park. This and the cromlech 
would furnish two elegant vignettes for your col- 
lection, if at least your tour chance to end, as 
mine did, in Anglesey. I passed through to 
Holyhead, and from thence crossed to Ireland. 

But though I have no homeward route for you, 
I may be able to assist you in tracing out one for 

* Plas Gvvyn, is the tvhite mansion. Plas Newydd, the 
new mansion. Amlwch, means near the Lake. 

N 



178 LETTERS ON THE 

yourself. In my next, therefore, you shall have 
the list I promised, of views not in our track, 
with a few remarks on the zvhole collection. These, 
and my method of shading and tinting, must then 
wind up our Cambrian inquiries. 

Yours, &c. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 179 



LETTER XVII. 

My method of shading and tinting is very 
simple. Brush the paper over first with plain 
water ; dry it, and then shade clear with Indian 
ink, the brown sort. After the drawing is finished, 
lay on a general wash of yellow ochre ; to vary the 
tint, add light red. For the smaller pieces the 
wash must be put on first; sketch them with a pen, 
and a mixture of burnt Terra di Sienna and 
Sepia. Mount upon grey silk paper (as it is called), 
or, if you tint the margin yourself, use Indian ink 
and indigo. Let the drawing be always mounted over 
a piece of white paper of rather smaller size ; the 
transmitted light will greatly improve its clearness 
and brilliancy. You are aware, that the sketches 
made upon the spot should never be afterwards 
shaded : for liberties must almost always be taken, 
and many original touches would thus be lost past 
recovery. To enumerate every view in Wales 

N 2 



180 LETTERS ON THE 

adapted to the pencil, would be endless: many 
also are too general to be precisely named. The 
following, which include some in Monmouthshire, 
have been all, I believe, selected by professed 
modern artists. 

CASTLES, ABBEYS, AND CHURCHES. 

Basingwerk Abbey, Flint. 

Burton Castle, Milford Haven, Pembroke. 

Caldecot Castle, Monmouth. 

Carreg Cennin Castle, Caermarthen. 

Chirk Castle, Denbigh. 

Caergwrle Castle, Denbigh. 

Caerdiff Castle, Glamorgan. From the west. 

Conwy Castle, Caernarvon. From the island. 

. Looking north-west from a wood 

opposite the castle. 
■ Looking east from the high 



ground above the town, opposite side of the rivulet. 
Conwy Castle, Town, &c. Looking east, near the Llanrwst 

road. 
— — Near the ferry-house, opposite 

side of the river. 
Dolwyddelan Castle, Caernarvon. 
Dinas Bran Castle, Denbigh. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 181 

Denbigh Castle. Also the Gateway. 

Flint Castle. 

Goodrich Castle, Monmouth. 

Grosmont Castle, Monmouth. The back of it. 

Haverfordwest Castle, Pembroke. 

Harlech Castle, Merioneth. From Tegwyn Ferry. 

Hawarden Castle, Caermarthen. 

Kidwelly Castle, Caermarthen. 

Llanydloes Church, Montgomery. 

Montgomery Castle. 

Pembroke Castle. North-east view. 

Rhyddlan Castle, Church, and Bridge, Flint. 

Ruthin Castle, Denbigh. 

Striguil Castle, Monmouth. 

St. Donat's Castle, Glamorgan. 

Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbigh. Also the Gateway. 

BRIDGES, WATERFALLS, AND MILLS. 

Bridge at Dinas Mowddwy, Merioneth. 

Bridge over the Dee, near Chirk Castle, Denbigh. 

Falls of the Machno, eight miles and a half from Festiniog, 

Caernarvon. 
Falls of the Conwy, Caernarvon. 
Fall near Aber, a mile and a half up the valley, by the side 

of the river, Caernarvon. 
Llanydloes Bridge, Montgomery. 



182 LETTERS ON THE 

Llanrwst Bridge, Denbigh. On the bank below it — town side. 

From the road between Conwy 

and Llanrwst, looking down the river — near view. 

Llangollen Bridge and Weir, Denbigh. 

Mallwyd Bridge, Merioneth. 

Mill at Corwen, Merioneth. 

Mills at Llanydloes, Montgomery. 

Overton Bridge, Flint. 

Penmachno Mill, Caernarvon. 

Pont llyn Dyffws, on the road between Corwen and Llanrwst, 
Merioneth. 

Pont y pair, near Llanwrst, Denbigh. 

Pistyl Rhaiadr, Denbigh. 

Rhaiadr Mawr, near Pont Porthlwyd, between Conwy and 
Llanrwst, Denbigh. 

Rhaiadr y Wenol (or fall of the Llugwy), near Capel Curig, 
Caernarvon. 

Velanessa Mill Glyn Dwrdwy, between Corwen and Llan- 
gollen, Denbigh. 

Yeaster Dillas Fall, Brecknock. 

VIEWS OF SNOWDON. 

Near Capel Curig, Caernarvon. 
Near Harlech, Merioneth. 
From Dolwyddelan, Caernarvon. 
Looking up the Llugwy, Caernarvon. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 183 



VIEWS OF CADER IDRIS. 

From the Dinas Mowddwy road, Merioneth. 
From Bala, Merioneth. 
From the road between Bala and Dolgelle. 
Near Townyn, Merioneth. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Chapel and Hamlet of Capel Curig, Caernarvon. 

St. David's Palace, Pembroke. 

The Moel Wyn, Caernarvon : a mountain between Beddge- 

lert and Pont Aberglasllyn. 
Distant view of Ruthin, in the Vale of Clwyd, Denbigh. 
St. Winifred's Well, Flint. 
Llansannon, Denbigh. 
Pembroke, from the high ground, Milford side of the ferry 

(supposed to be Wilson's view). 
Llangollen, Denbigh. Looking north-west. 
Vale of Clwyd with Orme's Head in distance, Denbigh. 
The Cefn Ogo, Denbigh. (Calcareous rock near Abergeley.) 
Aberavon, Glamorgan. 
The Moel y Golpha, Montgomery. (One of the Breidden 

Hills). 
Llandudno Rocks, Great Orme's Head, Caernarvon. 
New Weir, Monmouth. 



184 LETTERS ON THE 

View on the Conwy, near its junction with the Machno. 

Nant y Bele, Denbigh. (A dingle near Wynstay.) 

Vale of Elwy, Flint. 

Moel Siabod, Caernarvon. (A mountain seen from Capel 
Curig.) 

Llandilo Vawr, Caermarthen. 

Tegwyn Ferry, Merioneth. 

View from the mount at Bala Lake, Merioneth. 

Neivegal Sands, St. Bride's Bay, Pembroke. 

Aqueduct over the Dee, four miles and a half east of Llan- 
gollen. From the towing path of the canal, Denbigh. 

Aber, Caernarvon. Looking north.* 

Penmaen Mawr, Caernarvon. Between Aber and Conwy. 

As seen from Aber. 

A Pass two miles from Conwy, on the Bangor road, with 
Anglesey in distance, Caernarvon. 

Bettwys y Coed, near Pont y Pair, Caernarvon. 

Corwen, Merioneth. From the bank of the Dee. 

Inner Court of Plas Mawr, at Conwy, Caernarvon. 

Inside of the Church of Eweny Priory, Glamorgan. 

Upon looking over this collection, and the views 
in my other letters, yon will observe them often 

* Go from the inn, by the side of the river, and then look 
back over the Menai. 



SCENERY OF WALES. 185 

lying in clusters — round Beddgelert, for instance, 
Dolgelle, and the Devil's Bridge. This is no 
trifling help to a pedestrian, who must not be 
lavish either of steps or time. The great number 
and diversity of single objects also is a circum- 
stance very favourable to an inexperienced pencil ; 
such studies, from their simplicity, being generally 
easy. Of these there are particularly two — castles 
and bridges. The latter are numerous from the na- 
ture of the country, and some of them exceedingly 
beautiful. So many, perhaps, with such advan- 
tages of accompaniments and decoration, could no 
where else be selected in an equal circuit. But 
castles are the proud and peculiar feature of Welch 
scenery ; and in number, variety, antiquity, and 
grandeur, they are unrivalled. Of the four abbeys 
enumerated, I saw Tintern only, but I saw the 
best ; and can say with Gilpin of its interior, that 
my eye, " was above measure delighted with the 
beauty, greatness, and novelty of the scene."* 
The smaller antiquities are hardly the landscape- 
painter's study, except cromlechs and crosses. 

* Observ. Wye, p. $5. 



186 LETTERS ON THE 

Few of the former have been drawn, though many 
might be tried: the latter are scarce, and less 
beautiful, than some in England. There are 
many waterfalls, and some of them, no doubt, fine 
studies ; but their effect depends on such a variety 
of concurring circumstances, that they often owe 
much of their beauty to the painter. I saw eleven, 
and but one complete picture — that of Dolmelyn- 
llyn. Mountains, bold, sublime, or graceful, mark 
the character of almost every scene, either height- 
ening its importance, or sometimes forming them- 
selves the principal and commanding feature. You 
find very few churches selected, and only two lakes 
— Llanberis and Bala. With these exceptions, there 
seems to be no ingredient in the composition of 
landscape, which Wales does not furnish out in 
perfection. By further comparing the number of 
views taken in each county, you may determine 
pretty well their respective claims to picturesque 
beauty, so far at least as number will do it ; and 
they would, I think, stand nearly thus : — 
Caernarvon, Glamorgan, 

Merioneth, Denbigh, 



SCENERY OF WALES. 187 

Cardigan, Montgomery, 

Monmouth, Anglesea, 

Pembroke, Brecon, 

Caermarthen, Radnor. 

Flint, 
These few remarks, together with the foregoing 
list, may be some help, I should hope, toward the 
planning your way homeward, and not improbably 
persuade you to take it with the following points : 
— Beaumaris — Aber — Conwy — Llanrwst — Capel 
Curig — Betwys y Coed — Penmachno — Bala — 
Corwen — Llangollen — Oswestry. 

I am unacquainted with the Welch language, 
and so can give you no assistance on that point : 
English is now so generally spoken in the princi- 
pality, that I very seldom felt the want of it. 

I have said very little about the people; for 
what knowledge can a passing traveller gain of 
their character ? But I may say, that I ever 
found them civil, hospitable, and honest — a tribute 
of praise, which a pedestrian, with the manners 
of a gentleman, will, very rarely, I think, have 
occasion to refuse them. 
6 



188 LETTERS ON WALES. 

You are now possessed of the best information 
I can supply relative to your intended plan. It 
only remains, therefore, to add my wishes, that 
it may contribute to the success of your pencil, 
and the satisfaction and improvement of your 
mind and heart. 



INDEX 



Aber, 184 
Aberavon, 183 
Aberdare, 31 
Aberdillis Cascade, 42 
Aber Edwy Mill, S * 95 
Abergavenny Church, 100 
Abervstwith, 105 
Amlwch, 177 
Arran, 157 
Arthur's Stone, 48 

B. 
Bala Lake, 121 

, view near, 184 

Bangor, view of, S. 171 
Barmouth, 124 
- — , view of, 127 

Baron Hill, 177 
Basingwerk Abbey, 180 
Beaumaris, S. 173 

Castle, 174 

Beddgelert, S. 144 

Bridge, S. 149 

Pass near, S. 147 

Mill near (Caernar- 
von Road), S. 149 

Bridge near (Capel 



Curig Road), S. 150 
Betwys y Coed, 184 



Brecon, 97 



Priory, S. 98 

Bridge and Castle, S. 99 



Britton Ferry, S. 45 
Burton Castle, 180 
Bualt, 96 
Bwa Muen, 40 



C. 

Cader Idris, 109, 124 

, views of, 183 

Cader Arthur, 157 

Caerdiff Castle, 180 

Caergwle Castle, 180 

Caermarthen, 51 

Caernarvon, 167 

— Castle, views of, S. 

169 
Caerphilly Castle, 23 
Caldecot Castle, 180 
Capel Curig, 183 
Cardigan, S. 64 
Carew Castle, 59 
Carreg Cennin Castle, 180 
Cawnant Mawr, 167 
Cefn Ogo, 183 
Chepstow Castle, 102 
Chirk Castle, 130 
Clwyd, Vale of, 183 
Conwy Castle, 141, 180 

Pass near, 184 

River, view on, 184 

Corwen, 184 

, Mill at, 182 

Coracles, 67 

Cromlech at Newport, Cardigan, 

68 

PentreEvan, 68 

Plas Newydd, 175 

on Cwm Bryn, 48 

, others in Anglesey, 

176 
Craig y Deryn, S. Ill 
Cross at Baron Hill, 177 

Carew, 59 

Cross at Llanbadain Vaur, 105 



* The letter S. denotes those views of which Stations are given. 



190 



INDEX. 



Cunno River, 30 
Cwm Eland, 91 

Llan, 152 

— — Ystwith Lead Mines, S. 90 



Dee, Aqueduct over, 184 

, Bridge over, 181 

Denbigh Castle, 181 
Devil's Bridge, S, 79 
Dinas Bran Castle, 180 

Emrys, 151 

Mowddwy, 121 

Bridge at, 181 

Dinevawr Castle, 51 
Dolbadarn Tower, S. 165 
Dolgelle, view of, 120 

-■, Barmouth Road, from, 
122 

Mill, near, S. 125 

Dolmelynllyn Bridge, S. 130 
Dolwyddelan Castle, 180 
Drws y Coed, 153 



Einion's crooked Waterfall, S, 38 
Elwy, Vale of, 184 
Eweny Priory Church, 184 

F. 

Fall of the Cain, 133 

Cledaugh, 42 

Dvfflos, 108 

Hepsey, S. 37 

Llugwy, 182 

Mawdach, S. 134 

Melta, 37 

Ogwen, 172 

Purtheri, S. 38 

Ronsha, S. 28 

Rhvdoll, S. 81 

TatF, 26 

Wye, 91 

near Aber, 181 

near Dolmelynllyn, S. 131 

Falls of the Conwy, 181 

Cynfael, 136 

Machno, 181 



Falls of the Mynach, 81 
Festiniog, Vale of, 135 
Flint Castle, 181 

G. 

Goats, 148 
Goodrich Castle, 181 
Green Bridge, 56 
Grosment Castle, 181 
Grongar Hill, 52 

H. 

Hafod, 88 

Harlech Castle, 139, 181 
Haverfordwest Castle, 181 
Hawarden Castle, 181 
Holyhead, 177 

K. 

Kennarth Salmon-leap, 68 
Kidwelly Castle, 181 
Kilgerran Castle, S. 65 
Kimmer Abbey, 127 

L. 

Lady's Cascade, S. 40 
Lawhaden Castle, 60 
Llanaber Church, 127 
Llanbadarn Vawr, 105 
' Llanbeder, Stone Pillar near, 69 
Llanberis, 163 

Lake, S. 164 

• Pass, near, 162 

Llandegai, 172 
Llandilo Vaur, 184 
Llandudno Rocks, 183 
Llaneltyd Bridge, 127 
Llangollen, 183 

« Bridge, near, 182 

Llanllyfni, 153 
Llansannon, 183 
Llanrwst Bridge, 182 
Llan Stephan Castle, 55 
Llanthoni Abbey, 100 
Llanydloes Bridge, Mill, and 

Church, 181 
Llaugharne Castle, S. 55 
Llyn Gwynant, 152 



INDEX. 



191 



Llyn Ogwen, 172 

— — Trigrainwyn, 116 

yCae, 116 

y Dinas, 152 

M. 

Machynllaeth, View near, 106 
Maenturog, 134 
Maencloghog, 60 
Mallwyd, 131 

■ Bridge, at, 182 

Manorbeer Castle, 59 
Matchway, Dingle of, 95 
Melincourt Cascade, 42 
Melta Cavern, 37 
Moel Siabod, 184 

Wyn, 151, 183 

y Golpha, 107, 183 

Monmouth, Objects at, 101 
—— — — — , new Wear, 183 
Montgomery Castle, 181 
Mumbles Light House, 48 
Mynach, second Fall of, S. 84 

N. 
Nant Frangon, 172 

Lie, 153 

y BeJe, 184 

Bridge, 35 
Abbey, 43 



, Vale of, 31 

, Vechan Bridge, S. 32 

Neivegal Sands, 184 
Nevern, 67 
New Bridge, S. 24 
Newcastle, in Emlyn, S. 68 
Newport, Glamorgan, 20 

O. 

Ogwen Pool, 172 
Overton Bridge, 182 
Oystermouth Castle, 48 
Oxwich Point, 48 

P. 

Parson's Bridge, S. 85 
Pembroke, 183 
Castle, 181 



Penmachno Mill, 182 

Penmaen Mawr, 184 

Pennarth Castle, 48 

Pistil Rhaiadr, 182 

Plas Gwyn, 177 

Plas Mawr Inner Court, 184 

Pl&s Newydd, 177 

Plynlimmon, 104 

Pont Aberglas-llyn, S. 142 

• Salmon-leap 

near, 143 
Pont ar Dulus, 49 
Pont ar Mynach, S. 79 
Pont Herwid, 86 
Pont-llyn Dyffws, 182 
Pontneath Vechan, 31 
Stone Arch 

near, S. 34 
Pont y Pair, 182 
Puldw Point, 48 



R. 
Ragland Castle, 101 
Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli, 152 
Du, 137 



- Gwy, 91 

- Mawr, 182 

y Wenol, 182 



Rhyddlan Castle, &c. 181 
RhydollMill, on, 87 
Robbers' Cave, 84 
Rock of Birds, S. Ill 
Rontha Vawr, 26 

Bridge on, S. 27 

Ruthin, distant View of, 183 
Castle, 181 

S. 
Skirrid, View from, 101 
Snowdon, 155 

, Views of, 182 

St. Catharine's Isle, 58 

— David's Palace, 183 

— Donat's Castle, 181 

— Gowen's Well, 146 

— Winifred's Well, 183 
Striguil Castle, 181 



192 



JttDEX. 



Swansea Bay, 46 

■ ■ , Views of, S. 47 



Taff, 26 

Tal y Llyn, 109 

Tany Bwlch Hall, 138 

, View near, S. 

136 
Tegwyn Ferry, 184 
Tenby, S. 57, 58 
Tintern Abbey, 101, 185 
Tovy, Vale of, 51 
Traeth Bach, and Traeth Maur, 

139 
Tregaron, 70 

V. 
Valle Crucis Abbey, 181 



Velanessa Mill, 182 

Views between Dolgelle and 

Barmouth, S. 123, 124 
Views between Dolgelle and 

Machynllaeth, S. 108, 116 

W. 

Waterfall of the great Chasm, 167 
Welch, Dress and Persons of, 61 
Wye, Confluence with the Edwy, 

96 
Wynd Cliff, 102 



Yeaster Dillas Fall, 182 
Yspytty Ystwith, View near, 73> 
Ystrad'Flur Abbey, S. 71 
Ystradyvodwe, 29 



THE END. 



C. Baldwin, Pi inter. 
New Bridge Street, London. 



Library of Congress 
Branch Bindery, 1903 



